Elite Irish jockey breaking in at Golden Gate Fields
Tom Queally rode one of the greatest horses of all time, Frankel, to 14 victories in 14 starts from 2010 through ’12. He captured the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf with Midday in 2009. He won a Group 1 event at Royal Ascot with The Tin Man each of the past two years.
So what is the 33-yearold native of Ireland, who has competed at the highest levels of European racing for the past 10 years, doing at Golden Gate Fields?
“It’s been something I’ve been working on the past two or three years, to transition across the Atlantic,” Queally said. “I’ve been quietly doing my homework. I’ve watched more racing in the past 18 months from the U.S. than European racing.”
Queally would seem a better fit at one of America’s major racetracks than at Golden Gate Fields.
“I think I can make the transition to U.S. racing better somewhere like this,” he said. “It will happen much quicker. The synthetic surface is one of the main reasons, too.”
Golden Gate Fields’ Tapeta Footings main track is similar to the all-weather surfaces used in Europe as an alternative to grass courses. The GGF turf course is softer than most in America, and that resembles those in Europe as well.
For an agent to line up mounts, Queally connected with Dennis Patterson, who has worked for such successful jockeys as Aaron Gryder, Kyle Frey, David C. Lopez, Dennis Carr, Kevin Krigger, Jason Lumpkins and Michael Martinez.
“People are going to want to see him ride despite the fact he has credentials,” Patterson said. “It’s not like he’s a total unknown, but he’s unknown to people here. He’s going to have to go out there and perform.”
Queally won’t be performing on horses even remotely resembling Frankel, who won 10 Group 1 races and 10 by at least 4 lengths.
“I’ve achieved all sorts of success, but the winning feeling is the winning feeling,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s up high or down low. I will treat a championship race the same way as I will treat a seller (claiming event).”
Queally finished nextto-last on both of his mounts in his Golden Gate Fields debut Thursday, and he has three mounts Friday and one each Saturday and Sunday.
“San Francisco can be my home for the next two or three years if I get the results I want,” he said. “I’m not going to go back in three months. I just want to get the numbers on the board and put on a show. I’m hoping to make an impact. If Golden Gate can do anything for my career, fantastic. But if I can do anything for Golden Gate, the better.”
All right, but what was it like to be Frankel’s jockey?
“It made me a household name in many ways,” Queally said. “Before Frankel, I wouldn’t be stopped in the street in London but after, I was. To be the only man in the saddle through his undefeated career is something I’m proud of. It’s something that will follow me around until I retire, until the day I die.”