Sport
15 September, 2023
Jockey’s career-best racing
A RELATIONSHIP built on brutal honesty and deep friendship has delivered jockey Shannon Apthorpe the greatest victory of his riding career more than three decades into his tenure in the sport.
The 48-year-old lifted the Cairns Amateur Cup last Saturday afternoon in FNQ aboard striking grey galloper Sayl.
The relatively unknown Toowoomba-based jockey had ridden Sayl through the entire northern winter carnival, starting in Rockhampton in late June before following the Cup-bound gelding up the coast.
And, when Apthorpe did ride Sayl at Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville and Cairns – it was usually his only ride of the entire program.
Sayl’s majority owner Gary Popp is an old friend of Apthorpe’s. Sayl is prepared by leading provincial trainer Lindsay Hatch.
In the old days, Popp had his own team of gallopers with Apthorpe one of his regular riders before he eventually gave it away in 2015.
The veteran jockey recalls one of his first rides for Popp around two decades ago in the bush where in his own words, he put in an ordinary effort.
“I came straight back in after the race and apologised to Gary and told him the horse would win at his next start,” Apthorpe remembers from the conversation around 20 years ago.
“Gary always remembered that and respected that I was honest, we have kept a great relationship since.”
Popp and Apthorpe had not spoken in a number of years before a phone call out of the blue recently came the way of the experienced rider to offer him the job on Sayl through the rich northern cup series.
Some followers of racing may have questioned why the Hatch stable continued to stick with Apthorpe when Sayl was not living up to his performances from the season before.
Apthorpe was overjoyed to be able to repay the faith Popp and Hatch have shown in him in recent months.
“We had a lot of luck over the years and I was always pretty straight with him and he appreciated that,” the jockey said of Popp.
“He is a loyal sort of fella and he offered me the ride on Sayl up north.
“It was an opportunity to good too turn down as I am not really known well as a jockey up that way and when I do go up there, I am lucky to get more than one ride.
“I could have stuck around Toowoomba and made more money around this area riding consistently but it has worked out in the end.”
