On the day celebrating the career of champion jockey Jimmy Cassidy, Jason Collett has continued his rise through the ranks and even been compared to The Pumper himself.
The 23-year-old rode both the David Vandyke-trained Yankee Rose in the Jimmy The Pumper Cassidy Golden Gift and Chris Waller-trained Torgersen in the Might and Power Handicap to victory at Rosehill on Saturday.
Waller praised Collett, who like Cassidy is a Kiwi and also won New Zealand’s apprentices premiership.
“Jason Collett is starting to get that confidence and that’s what Jim Cassidy has,” Waller said.
“Just immense confidence and they can do things like get a horse up from an impossible position.
“Today was one of the very few days when I said to (Jason) `you go out and do what you think is best’.
“I don’t say that to many jockeys and when you’ve got the confidence in a jockey to say that, it means a lot for a jockey.”
Collett appreciated Waller’s support.
“It gives you confidence that he’s got confidence in you,” Collett said.
He said it would be great if Cassidy didn’t leave racing completely, but stayed on to coach riders.
“It would be a loss to the industry if they didn’t at some point try to involve him, get him back into it.
“He’d be a huge help,” he said.
