YOUNG JOCKEY STEPS OUT OF THE SHADOWS

By Matt Nicholls

26/06/2012

melbourneracing@gmail.com

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IT’S never easy when you follow the same career path as one of your parents – especially if they were successful in their particular field.

But apprentice jockey Braidon Small is confident he’ll have no trouble stepping out of the shadow made by his father Cyril, a successful Queensland hoop best known for being Vo Rogue’s number one jockey.

For starters, Braidon is already content he won’t ride a Group 1 winner like his dad did.

That doesn’t mean he won’t potentially be a top-class jockey, though.

The reality is there are no Group 1 jumps races – not in Australia anyway – and that’s the path Braidon has decided to take.

The truth is, he didn’t have much choice.

If he wanted to race horses he had to either take up harness racing driving or take up riding over the sticks.

Unlike his dad, who is much smaller and can still ride comfortably at the minimum in Queensland, Braidon was never going to be able to ride over the flat.

But when horse racing is in your blood, you find a way around it.

So he moved to Victoria.

With his girlfriend Amy Power in tow, the pair landed in Warrnambool, keen to start their new lives.

That was 18 months ago.

Braidon is now 20 and is currently in the midst of the biggest month of his life.

He got his ticket to ride in jumps races four weeks ago and has already experienced the highs and lows of racing.

He’s experienced the disappointment of running second; he’s experienced what it’s like to finish 30 lengths of the winner.

He’s even experienced the one thing every jumps jockey doesn’t want to experience – falling off.

That was in his second ride over the sticks.

In one of the most dramatic incidents you’ll ever see in the sport, Braidon and his mount Jeune Baby Jeune somehow managed to escape injury after the horse decided to jump through the inside rail.

“If not for those plastic running rails, I wouldn’t be talking to you,” Braidon told Melbourne Racing yesterday.

“I’ve watched the replay about 500 times, I reckon, and it looks as if he shied away from something to his right, maybe something in the crowd, and he’s gone through the fence. I got a badly bruised hand but that was it. The horse was OK – he was back in work a couple of days later.”

That was two Sundays ago at Bendigo.

It was on Sunday just gone where Braidon broke his duck.

In a maiden hurdle at Casterton, the young banana bender celebrated his first win aboard the Matthew Williams-trained Telesmon.

It was the horse’s first race over the obstacles, having previously finished sixth in this year’s Warrnambool Cup over the flat.

The win was a reward for Braidon’s hard work.

Even though it took him less than a month between his first ride and his first win, it was a reward for all the hours he had put in over the previous 18 months.

It was also reward for taking a chance in life and moving out of his comfort zone on the Gold Coast and taking on a challenge that most wouldn’t dream about.

Now he has his first win, it’s about getting another, and another, and another.

As an apprentice jumps jockey, Braidon can ride nine more winners before his 3kg claim is slashed to 1.5kg.

Another 10 winners after that and he loses it completely.

But that won’t be happening any time soon.

The jumps racing industry is extremely competitive for jockeys. Unless you’re Steve Pateman, who can basically pick and chose his rides, it can be an extremely tough gig.

As promising as Braidon is, it will take him some time to become an established jumps jockey.

But he’s willing to work hard.

“I absolutely love it at the moment and it’s been the best decision I’ve ever made,” he said of moving to Victoria.

“There’s just a good bunch of people down here – all the trainers have been really good to me.”

Braidon originally came down to ride work for Ciaron Maher in his quest to become a jumps jockey, but he has since branched out to become a freelancer.

The difference between being an apprentice over the flat and an apprentice over the jumps is you don’t need a master if you’re the latter.

“I ride work for Aaron (Purcell) and Matt (Williams), Allan Peterson and some of the other smaller Warrnambool trainers,” Braidon said.

“I work about 10-12 horses each morning and that’s good.”

Braidon and Amy live about a minute’s drive from the Warrnambool track.

Amy, 22, is apprenticed to Williams and has ridden in nine official trials to date.

She’s still some time away from riding in races but her enthusiasm for racing was never waned.

Amy and Braidon have been together for several years now and you get the feeling an engagement is not far away.

“She asks me every day,” Braidon joked.

I’m sure Amy is hoping her boyfriend rides a few more winners so he’ll have the cash to splurge out and buy a ring.

As it stands, that might not be too far away.

You can read more about Braidon and Amy in this story penned by Just Racing’s Phil Purser last year HERE