Straight shooter’s comeback pays off
JORDAN GERRANS SHANE Pawsey straight. He does not muck around. Horse trainers often declare that they love jockeys who give them direct and honest feedback.
When you are training a dozen horses and can’t watch every second of track work before dawn each morning, a spot-on appraisal from the hoop is vital.
Many leading north Queensland trainers believe they get exactly that from 48year-old Pawsey, who is in the early stages of a racing comeback after three years away from riding.
During his riding lay-off, he spent time working as a gardener and a labourer.
A cancer scare pushed him to get back into shape and led to a race riding return last year, which has picked up momentum over the past week, yielding four winners at Townsville at Innisfail.
Four winners in a week is hardly an achievement for the veteran, as he rode more than 400 in New South Wales and the ACT before moving to north Queensland in 2012.
Former jockey Ronnie Ryan, now training his Tolga stable with wife Janel Ryan, believes Pawsey is as hardworking as jockeys get.
“He is a dedicated person,” Ryan said.
“The old saying goes, ‘if you put your work in, you will get it back out,’ and that sums up Shane.
“He is a good judge of pace. He is a jockey you can talk too about the horse. “He tells you straight.” His comeback received a shot in the arm on November 6 tells you at Cannon Park, riding his first double since returning.
While most top Far North riders tend to ride for just one or two stables, Pawsey has elected to be a freelance jockey in his return.
The decision is highlighted by his five rides this afternoon – saddling up for five different trainers from all around the region.
Pawsey appears an excellent chance to add to his growing list of recent winners at Morrow Park Race Track.
The veteran has had his best success since his return with Cairns’ Trevor Rowe, with the pair combining for two wins and five seconds from 17 starts.
“Shane is riding very well at the moment,” Rowe said.
“He is a very good rider and he is in form.
“The best thing about Shane is that he tells it how it is.
“He is reliable and he is very, very experienced as well as being a good bloke and a good rider.
“Hopefully we can keep him on a few more.”