OFF AND RACING

Q

What motivated you to first get into riding and what motivated you to start your riding career?

A

I used to go to a Christian Brothers school which I wasn’t happy at. I had six years of having the living daylights belted out of me. They used to have these long leather straps that were layered and triple stitched. I left in my last year at intermediate and was at home wondering what I’d do. My father was sitting reading the newspaper and I just walked up to him and asked if he thought I could be a jockey. He said OK and that was it.

Q

Could you make a decent living from being a jockey in your era in racing?

A

I could ride all day when you got $10 for a ride and if I didn’t win a race I’d walk home with $70. They were mostly seven-race cards. When I was apprenticed I was supposed to be getting $4 a week, and a half day off every second Sunday, but I didn’t get it. I was at the end of the line when the bosses were handing out wages. I didn’t know any better.

Q

It is true that you were one of the first jockeys to start wearing gloves in Australian races?

A

Yes. I noticed a French jockey wearing them when I was overseas (in the 1970s) and I started wearing gloves when I came back to Australia after also experiencing it in Hong Kong. I’d cut the fingertips off them so I could still feel the reins which could get slippery and the gloves would help with gripping them. I was the first jockey to start using them out here and nearly every jockey in Australian now rides with gloves on.