Jimmy Orman, Brisbane’s leading jockey, continues to pursue a rigorous workload of race rides as he focusses on his simple goal of ‘keeping on getting better and riding as many winners as I can.”
Orman is currently reaping the rewards of his focused mindset and committed physical work ethic, continuing to raise the bar, even after every time he reaches a new milestone. So far, there is just no plateau in the climb he has been on and hopes to continue.
“I don’t have goal in terms of exactly how many winners I want to get, I just want to do better each season, which is hard to do if that winning total keeps rising,” explained Orman. “That’s the idea, anyway.”
And that’s where the workload comes in.
“Apart from good results helping me along, I think I keep getting rides because I keep turning up,” said Orman.
“I like riding Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday … with the odd Thursday thrown in … but that’s generally four days a week riding at the races … trials Tuesday … and trackwork Tuesday and Saturday. That’s what I like to do.
“It’s busy, but it is good.
“You go to the Sunshine Coast on a Sunday … or to Ipswich during the week … and if you can get a couple of winners there as well as what you are doing in town, you keep everybody happy.”
And what about any riding goals away from Queensland, perhaps even on an international level?
“It would be nice to go somewhere, someday and ride somewhere else,” answered Orman.
“It would be awesome to go to a place like Hong Kong one day, but I’ve got to be realistic. I am in Queensland … not riding in our major states … so, in that respect, it’s difficult to get that invite from here.
“Also, its’s hard for me because I’m a 56kg jockey … 55kg if I really have to, but it takes too much out of me to ride at 55kg regularly … so I’m usually just at 56kg, which obviously has an impact on the rides I can take.
“If I keep riding winners though, you never know what might come out of it.
“If I ever do get a call to go to Hong Kong, I would go for sure … but for now, my family and I are happy in Queensland,” concluded Orman.
*Orman currently lads the Brisbane Jockey’s Premiership by eight winners (60 to Ben Thompson’s 52) at a strike rate of 19.3 percent. He also has a clear lead in both the Sunshine Coast and Ipswich Jockey Premierships. Orman won last years Brisbane Jockey’s Premiership with a total of 78.5 winners. All things being equal, yet another personal best could be close at hand. Orman set a new record for quickest 100 winners in a season in Queensland on February 4. He currently leads the Queensland State Jockey’s Premiership with 113 winners.
