Expat Irish rider Declan Bates talks about a spectacular triumph in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes – and how Pride Of Jenni has taken his career to a new level
Declan Bates enjoyed the greatest moment of his career when he steered Pride Of Jenni to an astonishing pillar-to-post victory that had to be seen to be believed in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick on Saturday [April 13].
Having established a 30-length lead by halfway, the six-year-old mare streaked home by 6½ lengths from a top-class field in the the A$5m ($3.2m/£2.58m) highlight of Day 2 at The Championships in Sydney – a stunning victory that elevated Pride Of Jenni to world #2 on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global Rankings.
Bates, 35, had already partnered Pride Of Jenni to G1 wins in the Empire Rose Stakes and Champions Mile on successive weekends at the Melbourne Spring Carnival – plus a lucrative victory last month in the A$4m All-Star Mile.
He describes his association with the Ciaron Maher-trained mare as a “game changer” in his career in Australia, where Bates has nearly 500 winners to his name. He has come a long way since starting out in the point-to-point arena back in his native Wexford, Ireland, where he rode 30 winners under rules as a jump jockey (plus 42 on the Flat in the UK).
Here, in his own words, Bates reflects on the success and his career since he left Britain for Melbourne in 2015.
Last weekend was pretty unreal. That win has taken Pride Of Jenni to a whole new level and there are definitely a few more people who recognise me around here! The performance seems to have reached a big audience.
What she is able to do to the opposition is that she can go that strong a gallop that no one wants to chase because they fear their runner will fall in a hole and set the race up for someone else.
You have to ride your horse in their comfort zone and she just takes everyone out of their comfort zone. I can understand why that’s difficult for the rest of them. She has a higher cruising speed than most horses and things have worked out for us a few times now.
You have to use the cruising speed but I have to temper it a little bit to make sure it’s not too much and keep her doing it within herself to help her sustain it. It’s not too complicated but it can be a balancing act. We are pairing up pretty well.
On Saturday we were steaming along so I knew we had a good old gap on them but I certainly didn’t think we would be 30 lengths clear! She went a bit harder down the back than I would have liked; she was going to fight me a bit so I had to let her do a little bit more than I really wanted.
‘I wasn’t looking back’
At the same time I wasn’t overly concerned. I trust her and I wasn’t looking back at any stage.
She was slowing down over that last bit but she was not emptying in the way a lot of horses do. She was grinding it out in the last furlong but she wasn’t walking and that’s what is incredible about her.
Every time she wins there seems to be talk about what the jockeys were doing behind her, but she has done it enough times now it would be nice if people just accepted she was the best horse in the race.
I started out over jumps in Ireland. Where I grew up in Wexford is a strong point-to-point area and that’s where I started out riding, even though I was very light. I became a conditional rider for Philip Rothwell, had one very good season and then kept getting a lot of injuries.
After quite a few injuries I decided to switch to the Flat and went to Britain, ending up as an apprentice with Dave Evens. Hollie Doyle was there at the same time.
‘Didn’t have too much to lose’
In my last year I was freelance but found it tough to earn a living, so when an opportunity came up in Melbourne I felt I didn’t have too much to lose.
It took a bit of graft to get going over the first three years but it eventually paid off when the winners started to come. Daniel Bowman sponsored me so I could get a visa and put me on a very good horse called Be Good Toya Mother and we ended up winning a Group 1 and that kicked my career along.
Archie Alexander has been my main supporter in the last three or four years. I pretty much ride all the horses Tony Ottobre [owner of Pride Of Jenni] has and I am riding a bit for Ciaron Maher as well now. It’s working pretty good.
My first ride for Tony was on Pride Of Jenn. It was three years ago when she was with a different trainer in a G2 at Flemington. She was a big price but nearly won, got nabbed right on the line. It showed a flash of what she was capable of that day.
After one more run I didn’t ride her again for quite a while and she moved to Ciaron, who I didn’t ride for then.
Random call
Then in January last year I had a random call from Tony, who had been thinking about her runs and must have looked back at that race in Flemington when it was probably the only time she had been ridden how he thought she should be ridden.
He wanted me to ride her and the majority of his horses and getting on her has been a game changer.
When I moved here I didn’t foresee winning G1s before too long and it’s not been the most straightforward route. But although it’s been a long winding road, I’ve always had the confidence that if I get on these better horses I could get the job done.
If I am honest, at the start I probably wasn’t riding well enough but in the last few years I have improved my riding a lot. The jump racing experience has helped make me a good all-rounder.
I imagine Pride Of Jenni will have a good spell and come back for the spring. The Cox Plate would be an obvious target now she is proven at a mile and a quarter and I think Tony is keen on the King Charles III Stakes in Sydney but nothing is confirmed.
• Declan Bates was speaking to Jon Lees
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