Racing: Collett off to top start in Sydney

Former top jockey, Bob Skelton. Photo / Greg Bowker

It's a long time since the Australian headlines read: "Bob Skelton, GO HOME".

That Melbourne Herald back page sports lead was an open letter to New Zealand jockey Bob Skelton to stay in New Zealand.

The journalist had objected to the way Skelton had ridden a Kiwi horse campaigning in Australia and suggested he wasn't good enough to compete against the best.

It was in the 1960s, when New Zealand jockeys were considered a joke compared with their Australian rivals - they must have forgotten the world class Hector Gray, Roy Reed, Keith Voitre and a few others of the 1920s and 1930s.

You can imagine Bob Skelton's pleasure in winning the 1976 Melbourne Cup on Van Der Hum in front of the journalist responsible for the headline.

Around that same time an avalanche of New Zealand riding talent invaded Australia on a permanent basis, the net effect of which changed forever the Australian perception of the quality of our jockeys.

Garry Willetts, Brian Andrews, Brent Thomson, Brian York, Shane Dye, Greg Childs, Jim and Larry Cassidy and Bruce Compton all grabbed headlines of a different ilk, winning group one races and a host of state premierships.

And it wasn't just the ones who settled permanently who created those headlines - there are rich stories of New Zealand jockeys defying Australian team riding to land the big money on frequent raids.

David Peake won a Championship Stakes on Prince Majestic and a Sydney Cup on Good Lord, both horses returning with white paint down their flanks where rivals jockeys had attempted to put them either through or over the Randwick running rail.

Nothing is more revered than the punt in Sydney racing.

When McGinty went over to attempt the Canterbury Guineas in the mid-1980s word was around there was to be a massive plonk on local star Veloso, later to win a Sydney Cup.

Despite the attentions of most of the jockeys in the race, who clearly had one collective objective, Bob Vance rode such a clever, gutsy race he got McGinty home narrowly from the fast-finishing Veloso.

On pulling up Veloso's rider Peter Cook told Vance: "That's the last race you'll win in Sydney."

For want of a more appropriate word Australian racing is a lot "straighter" these days, but what hasn't changed is the respect for New Zealand jockeys.

Which leads to Pukekohe apprentice Jason Collett scoring a winning treble at Randwick on Saturday.

Twenty-year-old Collett switched his apprenticeship to Sydney's Chris Waller to take advantage of the loophole that allows him to still claim a 2kg allowance, which came about when Australia reclassified bottom-end New Zealand races from counting as metropolitan wins, thereby not impacting on an apprentice's claim.

The original intention was for three months in Sydney, but after a winning Saturday city treble that could all change.

Collett says he hasn't made any decisions beyond the three months.

"It was tough to get used to the 3.30am starts here and I really found the first couple of weeks hard because I didn't really know many people.

"I have come here for three months and really haven't thought any further than that. I'm starting to enjoy it now."

Collett still has around 20 wins to go before he loses his 2kg claim.

Two of his winners on Saturday were for Waller, English import Foreteller and The Verminator and the other was Yulalona for Peter Snowden and Sheikh Mohammed.

As he had shown in New Zealand, Jason Collett has a cool head.

Despite the implications of a high-profile Sheihk Mohhamed ride, he didn't panic when Yulalona was behind the leading wall of horses at the top of the home straight.

In getting out, he brushed aside Nash Rawiller on the favourite Charing Cross and forged clear.

Collett got back on Foreteller, but brought him along at the right time to stylishly grab the leaders. He looks a horse with an enormous future.

"He feels like a very good horse, but he is still learning," Collett said. "He switches on and off the bridle, but when he let down he had them covered very quickly."

There appears a strong chance we will lose two of our best riders in James McDonald and Collett, which makes it imperative we have new talent coming in underneath.

At Ellerslie on Saturday, we saw where that's likely to come from, young Rory Hutchings, who is apprenticed to Andrew Scott at Matamata. His winning ride on Coolross to beat the raging favourite Asgoodasitgets and James McDonald was a cracker.

Not simply because he won - the 4kg claim counted for a fair bit of that - but because of the composure he showed.

It's not reasonable to expect 4kg claimers to display composure or to use the whip well. Hutchings did both, keeping his head still and forward with immaculate balance.

Has he got a future.

TAB account mothballed
One thing that has changed dramatically is Jason Collett's betting.

Collett was known in New Zealand as a jockey who enjoyed a bet.

Australian jockeys are not permitted to bet.

In New Zealand, they can bet on their own horses or in races they are not riding in.

"When he first came here I had to point out he needed to close his New Zealand betting account straight away," said chief steward Ray Murrihy at Randwick on Saturday.

Murrihy acknowledged Collett as an extremely talented young rider.

Blake Shinn, who won the 2008 Melbourne Cup on the Bart Cummings-trained Viewed, is currently serving a 12-month disqualification for betting.

Shinn was originally given 15 months for what was described as a pathological gambling addiction that saw him bet A$581,263 on galloping races in a two-year period.

It was estimated he splurged more than A$1 million in betting across all three racing codes.

Ray Murrihy said Shinn's betting was "at a scale not previously seen before stewards".

Shinn had three months shaved from his disqualification on appeal. Fellow jockey Peter Robl was also given a year.