“What’s with that guy at the pool trying to tell me how to ride!”
It was a comment by a young apprentice that brought a wry smile to the lips of Damian Browne … the ‘pool guy’ in question at the training facilities at the Sunshine Coast Turf Club.
Browne, the former multiple Group 1 winning jockey, and Ken Pope, another Group 1 winning jockey, now work together as trackwork supervisors at the Sunshine Coast Turf Club and you would certainly have to travel a long way to find a better credentialed team for the job.
There is a benefit in there, not just for the club, but for young riders if they wish to make use of it, although it seems not everybody is keen to take up that option.
“You just shrug off comments like that,” said Browne.
“A very interesting part of the job for me is seeing the young riders from when they start out to their progression coming through … and I pretty much offer advice to anyone where I see something I think they are doing wrong and I think I can help them with it.
“You can see straight away when you are talking to them … you can see those who are taking it in and those who are not even listening,” said Browne.
“It’s up to them what they take from it really.
“All I can do is offer my advice. The nice thing is that those who want to learn come back and see me.
“I am not offended by any comment or if somebody isn’t interested in what I have got to say.
“I’m sure some of the young riders starting out don’t really know who I am or what I’ve achieved as a rider … and that’s ok, it just won’t stop me offering advice for those keen enough to take it up.
“It is obviously a different world these days … and I accept that,” admitted Browne.
“I understand the changing times.
“When I was growing up … when you were eight, nine ten years of age and you were keen on horses you were always sort of out in the stables and having the odd ride on a horse here and there around the place … and you would pick up a lot of knowledge, whereas nowadays, they are more or less sixteen before they start and they have to be licensed before they can be in a stable area … so they are starting a lot later.
“You are getting quite a few coming over from the pony clubs and the showjumping circle.
“Firstly, they have got to make the transition from that to thoroughbred racing … which is completely different … although some of them don’t seem to think so. There is just so much difference to get to grips with.
“Also, I don’t think, with the young ones, that some of them understand how dangerous it can be and you see them there and they are too busy talking and not concentrating on what they are doing.
“So, you have to keep reiterating to them how dangerous it is, particularly if you are not doing the right thing.
“It is a different world as I said,” continued Browne, “but a good work-ethic is never a bad thing … and work ethic basically translates into ‘attitude.’
“Some people might not agree with comparing the current scene to the past, but if you walked around a race-track thirty years ago, every apprentice or young rider had a whip in their hands when they walked around the stables.
“All they wanted to do was ride horses and learn their trade … whether that was by talking to trainers or older jockeys … whoever could give them information … whereas now, some of them just want to get out of there.
“I said some of them. There are obviously good apprentice riders … in various stages of development … who are committed to their careers and the more thirst for knowledge they have early in their career, the better they are going to be.
“Garnett Taylor’s apprentice, Leah Martyn, is a perfect example of someone who is committed to learn, improve and do better.
‘She just wants to learn. She has been coming to me and I have been doing a bit of work with her. She has been taking it in and I think she has a bright future.
“So, I think attitude is a big thing, whatever era you are talking about.
“That ‘hunger’ and readiness to keep learning and work hard can never come too early.
“I’ve told the young riders that I’m always there if they want to talk about something … or need help. I’m there, but I’m not going to be chasing them.
“If they want to succeed, they should be going to people with experience and picking their brains. That can only help in a profession where you can never expect anything to be handed to you on a plate.
“I know, especially throughout the jockey ranks, that everybody wants to help the younger riders if they are willing to be helped, but once they think they know it all and are too worried about what they are doing on Saturday night … there is no point in wasting their time or ours.
“As trackwork supervisors we get there first in the morning and check that the tracks are safe to go,” explained Browne.
“Then we supervise the trackwork … horses going on and off the track. If an incident takes place, we are there to help however we are needed … we are there to take care of the horses and riders.
“And, yeah, and sometimes we are by the pool.”
Which is where the … ‘What’s with that guy at the pool trying to tell me how to ride’ … remark comes from.
But that’s really just water off a duck’s back for the likes of Damian Browne.
As in much of life, there is a lesson to be learnt here and it would do young riders the world of good to pay attention.
If they don’t want to do that, it is their loss.
