Training takes over for Spry
CARL Spry is ready for the next stage of his life in racing.
The well-travelled horseman, floating between Queensland, NSW and the NT across his career, rode at Cairns’ Cannon Park a fortnight ago and has settled with his family in north Queensland.
He has been an accomplished trainer-jockey in the Top End over the past few years, training almost 90 winners, and is now set to transition into focusing solely on training in NQ.
Dual licenced trainer-jockeys are only permitted to have five horses in Queensland, which Spry thinks he will have outgrown by the end of the week, leading towards taking on a trainers-only licence, while continuing to ride trackwork as well.
“I will have 9-10 horses soon enough … I do not want to be driving four hours to ride two horses,” Spry said.
“I have ridden enough winners in big races all around the place. I do not need to be travelling like that anymore. I will miss riding a bit.
“I can make a better living as a trainer. I enjoy race riding, but I hate losing weight and I have done that for 20 years. I am beyond it now.”
The 36-year-old was a top rider in his younger days, riding in Group 1 races as well as winning Listed races.
Spry had around 60-80 clients on the books in Darwin before becoming frustrated with rules, regulations and systems in the Territory, leading to his move across border.
His Top End tenure included a Darwin Guineas win, a Bridge Toyota triumph and plenty of success in the yearly premierships, with only champion trainer Gary Clarke consistently outdoing him.
Spry also took on the role as President of the NT Jockeys Association, in which he introduced career benefits and super for his members.
He is hopeful of having as many as 12 horses in work, maybe more, when he gets his full team together across 2020.
“I enjoy the training side of it all way more than I thought I would,” Spry said.
“That is why I am not looking down that path.
“I am lucky that I have built up a big client base that I can transfer into training a bit easier than others may have.”
Spry ended his time as a Darwin jockey on a high note with a win aboard Kelvin Hickmott’s High Cost before eventually starting the move across earlier this year.
Racing in the northern zone heads to Cairns’ Cannon Park on Thursday afternoon with a big program locked in.
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