All is well – Jockey Shane Ellis is still around
Punters have been noticing and are commenting on the recent lack of race-day saddle time by champion jockey, Shane Ellis.
The champion is rarely seen in the saddle these days, but the man from Purple Island in Westmoreland says he is still around putting in the hard work.
“Yeah, I have to admit it, I am not in the saddle as often as is usual, but there is no problem or anything like that. Nothing is really going on with me of late but everything is alright.
“I am not as light as I used to be, and if you check, most of the trainers are going for the claiming apprentices to chip off weight from their horses.
“For example, I am riding at 53.0 kilogrammes, so most trainers will want to go for an apprentice rider in order for their horses to carry like 50 or 51 kilogrammes to give their charges the best chance of winning,” Ellis revealed to the Complete Racing Guide.
While he mainly rides for Anthony Nunes, Ellis said that there is no problem securing rides from other trainers.
“This is not a problem as I get rides from other trainers.
“I won’t say that I am the stable jockey from Nunes; however, I get most of my rides from him but that doesn’t stop me from riding horses for other trainers as we all have a good relationship,” Ellis explained.
As to his chances of retaining his title, Ellis is under no illusions about the difficulty of repeating.
“Every jockey has the dream of becoming champion rider.
“I have won two championships, one in 2000 when I was riding mostly in Canada and I got my second title last year, and that made me very happy.
“To win a jockeys’ championship where every rider is going for it, it takes a lot of hard work, dedication, determination and confidence.
“Once you have those key ingredients and have belief in yourself, then all is possible.
“However, for this year, once I am getting good rides and I am managing my weight, I have a very good chance of defending my title as champion jockey,” he assured.
Ellis is currently third in the jockeys’ standings on 33 winners behind leader Omar Walker (46 winners) and Aaron Chatrie (36 winners).
The remaining riders in the top 10 are Bebeto Harvey (28 winners), Linton Steadman (28 winners), Dane Nelson (in Canada- 27 winners), Robert Halledeen (25 winners), Hakeem Pottinger (24 winners) Dane Dawkins (23 winners) and Jerome Innis (22 winners).
Of the lot, Steadman, Pottinger, Harvey, Dawkins, and Innis are apprentice jockeys.
