McDonogh Refreshed After Aussie Stint

Despite his youthful appearance, Declan McDonogh is beginning to fit into the 'senior jockey' category in Ireland and the former champion is facing into his 23rd year as a jockey, without the backing of a major stable but refreshed after a very rewarding three-month stint riding in Australia. McDonogh said so long to the Irish winter last November and arrived in Australia with no job as such, just an agreement to start riding track work and whatever followed, followed.

“Hugh Bowman had mentioned it to me a few times about coming over so I took his advice, sorted out a visa and travelled over and it was a great trip,” McDonogh said.

If an Australian jockey waltzed over to Ireland in the middle of the flat season and expected to get rides straightaway from the likes of Dermot Weld, Aidan O'Brien or Jim Bolger, he would be waiting quite a while to get a taste of competitive action. Not so in Australia, where it seems to be a far more open shop with immediate opportunities there for people willing to get stuck in.

“It's kind of like a free for all, as there are no retained riders as such,” McDonogh explained. “Some jockeys have strong associations with some stables but most trainers use a selection of jockeys. I went initially to ride track work for Peter and Paul Snowden, then I linked up with Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott and it just snowballed from there. Once I got my license sorted after the first week, I started to get rides and I even ended up riding a couple of winners for Chris Waller near the end of my stint, so I'm really happy with how it went. I had 12 winners in total and a few at the metropolitan tracks like Canterbury and Randwick, so I think I made a good impression with plenty of good contacts made for the future.”

As one would expect from a jockey with such experience and a handful of Group 1 wins on his CV, McDonogh did not take long to adapt to the different style of riding in Australia and he regularly rewarded punters who followed him, especially those at Newcastle just before Christmas when the jockey booted home a treble on the card.

“Race riding is totally different over there,” he said. “The horses are trained differently and as a result they ride differently. The majority are trained for speed, they grab on to the bit and they go. Stalls work is very important, they do regular jump outs and it's rare for a horse to miss the break.”

He continued, “I think I adapted pretty quickly. The racing is quite well policed. You've got to respect your fellow riders and you can't muscle a guy out of the way. If one jockey has to check or steady his mount for a stride, someone else is going to pay for that through a suspension. In a way it's good, as you know where you stand and it certainly makes you become more aware as a rider.”

One major difference between the policing of racing in Australia and Ireland is that the race day stewards are paid professionals. There is also a clear system to deal with riding infringements whereby an incident can be classed as low, mid-range or high on the scale of seriousness with the ban allocated reflective of that. There are regular high profile examples of top jockeys receiving enforced holidays including McDonogh's friend Hugh Bowman, whose recent ban potentially ruled him out of partnering Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) on her return to action, a return that was ultimately delayed to keep that great winning partnership intact.

“I think the stewards are very professional and they know what they're talking about and you're dealing with the same guys most of the time,” said McDonogh. “I enjoyed riding there, it's very fair, very competitive and there are a lot of very good jockeys in action.”

One thing Australian racing has in common with Ireland and indeed most of Europe, is that the majority of racing is held on turf and McDonogh had no complaints about the racing surface Down Under or about racing's popularity among the general public.

“By and large the tracks are very impressive, a great covering of grass that provides a nice cushion for galloping and the prizemoney is phenomenal. Also, the sport receives so much coverage compared to here. Most of the daily papers have a four or five page pullout on each day's racing. With Winx on the scene also it has brought racing into focus even more. I went to see her at a barrier trial in Rosehill and she's a big, impressive mare.”

McDonogh was fortunate during his three-month busman's holiday to ride for some of the best trainers in the business in the Snowdens and Gai Waterhouse.

Commenting on the differences between their methods, he said, “Peter does a lot of work on the clock and that, for me, took a bit of getting used to. Gai, on the other hand,doesn't focus so much on times, she conditions her horses very well and she is extremely shrewd.”

McDonogh was champion jockey in Ireland in 2006 and he enjoyed many memorable occasions with his former boss Kevin Prendergast. In 2009, the pair teamed up to win the two major autumn juvenile races in Ireland when Kingsfort (War Chant) and Termagant (Ire) (Powerscourt {GB}) landed the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. and G1 Moyglare Stud S., respectively. They completed the trifecta of Irish juvenile Group 1 races when La Collina (Ire) (Strategic Prince {GB}) won the G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. two years later. While latter years have not been quite as fruitful, McDonogh remains in demand by a large number of trainers. He made the perfect comeback on home soil at Dundalk last Friday when landing a brace of winners. In recent years, McDonogh has been riding as first jockey to John Oxx and despite that formal arrangement coming to an end last November, such is the breadth of trainers that utilize the rider, McDonogh doesn't envisage being any less busy.

“Hopefully I'll still ride a few for Mr. Oxx, but I'll also be renewing links with all my contacts from previous years,” he said. “People like Andy Slattery, Gordon Elliott, Charles O'Brien and even Willie Mullins.”

Tipperary-based trainer Andy Slattery can pretty much turn his hand to anything when it comes to training horses. He trained the brilliant hurdler Faugheen (Ire) (Germany) to win a point to point as a 4-year-old but his stable has also been a great source of flat winners for McDonogh with former stable-star Creggs Pipes (Ire) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}) top of the list. McDonogh won six races on the mare before she was retired from racing last autumn with her finest hour coming in the G2 Lanwades Stud S. when she beat Opal Tiara (Ire) (Thousand Words {GB}) by just under four lengths. McDonogh also won the valuable Galway Mile H. on Creggs Pipes in 2016 and he followed up in the same race last year when winning on Riven Light (Ire) (Raven's Pass) for Willie Mullins.

“I've won that Galway race three times in the past six years so it's been lucky for me,” he said.

Another trainer better known for his jumping exploits is Gordon Elliott and he provided McDonogh with another season highlight last year when Beckford (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) won the G2 Railway S. The colt was one of a number of 2-year-olds the trainer had in 2017 for the first time and McDonogh is hopeful there could be some similarly high-class juveniles among this year's crop.

“I was in Gordon's the other day looking at the 2-year-olds and they seem a nice bunch,” he noted. “Gordon will be stepping them up in their work after Cheltenham, so hopefully there is a few there to look forward to. Until you start pressing buttons you don't know, but they look nice and I'd say they were well bought by the team. I'll be in Gordon's once or twice a week from now on, as apart from the 2-year-olds, he has plenty of dual-purpose horses that will run on the flat over the summer so there will be plenty of rides going.”

While he has a lot to look forward in Ireland over the course of the season, McDonogh already has half an eye on a return trip to Australia at the end of the year.

“I'd love to get down for the Melbourne Cup Carnival next time,” said McDonogh. “A good few trainers said they would support me again if I returned, so hopefully that'll be the case, as it's a great country.”