While some of the emerging ‘gun’ apprentices bring a youthful swagger to proceedings along with their bristling and precocious talent, the best of the old-time professionals are still showing them how to do things, setting the standard and giving them something to try to beat … and Jim Byrne stands as the absolute role model of the consummate, high performing, proudly professional jockey.
Byrne current leads the Brisbane Jockey’s Premiership table. With 281 rides, he is the hardest worker on that ladder. With his mounts having banked $3.2 million in prize-money he is the highest earner in terms of stakes won and he also ranks second (behind Ryan Maloney) in both winning and place strike-rates.
That would be something for the youngsters to look up to in itself, but, quite incredibly, that is just the tip of the iceberg. If Byrne should go on to win this season’s premiership, it would be his fifth Brisbane Jockey’s Premiership title and it would arrive … wait for it … twenty-four years after his premiership win in the 1997/98 season.
That sort of longevity and success can only come via hard work and dedication but, coming over length of time, it also needs plenty of grit and determination as no jockey’s career is free from injury and pain which, in extreme cases, can take raw courage to overcome.
Byrne, for example, is still having to cope on a daily basis with the on-going effects of an injury to his knee which he suffered in a fall in 2019, making the fact that he is holding his ground at the top of the ladder even more praiseworthy.
“That injury has been pretty devastating for myself on a personal level,” said Byrne. “I’m the type of person that likes to stay active … I’m quite physical and I like to play sport … and the thing with racing here in Queensland is that you have got to go to nearly every meeting that’s on to be competitive … like, for example, taking the rides at the Sunshine Coast on horses that are going to progress to a city meeting.
“You’ve got to go to most of them if you possibly can … on a Friday, on a Sunday …and, unfortunately, because of the situation I have got with my knee, I can’t do that.
“Ever since the fall the knee has been a problem for me. I had to have surgery twice and I’ve got to go back for more surgery again sometime to remove the plate and clean it all up again.
“So, now I can basically only do one hard day of riding … and then I need a full day of rest to give my knee a bot of a chance to recover. I can go hard for that one day but then, ultimately, I need to give my knee the time to recover. I’ve got to go home and ice the knee for three to four hours afterwards and the next day I know I have done it … so I have got to carefully manage my workload.”
That … remember … coming from a person who has taken more rides in town than anyone else this season.
Clearly then, trainers can have confidence in the fact that Byrne is good to go when he accepts a ride and the results show that Byrne’s niggling knee has not dented his prowess in the saddle at all.
And Byrne’s view as far as premiership titles are concerned?
“For myself, it is not really something I pay a mind to,” said Byrne. “It is not something that I’ve ever really focussed on.
“You understand that if you are having a great season you are going to be in contention but, if you are not in contention that doesn’t necessarily mean you have had a bad season.”
‘To be in contention for a premiership you obviously need to have good support and I’ve ridden for some great trainers. There are a lot of trainers here in Queensland that support me. With some of the big stables, while I may not be their first or even their second choice rider, my name is always in the back of their minds … which is a good position to be in to pick up rides.
“You can never get ahead of yourself or become too comfortable. You could be up on top of the ladder today but tomorrow could be a completely different day. It’s the way the racing industry is. It’s been that way since day dot … and the day you learn that is the way the industry is, that’s when you understand it and know that you have to try and make the best of every opportunity you are given.
“Sometimes it works out. Sometimes it doesn’t.”
Apart from winning the Brisbane Jockey’s Premiership four times, Byrne has also finished second in the premiership on multiple occasions behind the likes of Scott Seamer, the late Stathi Katsidis, Glen Colless (twice) and Jeff Lloyd (three times) … and Byrne clearly has huge respect for his fellow high achievers.
“Every one of those guys are champion riders.
“The Guv (Jeff Lloyd) … he is in a league of his own. One thing I learned very early on with him, he has got a very good racing mind. He understands the way a race pans out … the patterns of races … and you knew he was very clever in a race. Jeff wouldn’t go by speed maps, or the like. He would do his own homework and plan accordingly because he would already know what would probably happen in the race.
“I think that is something that is lacking in today’s racing. There are so many speed maps out there and many jockeys basically just print them off and go by that … which is available to everybody, rather than do their own background work which could give them an edge. Like Jeff, I don’t follow any speed maps except my own.
“Scott Seamer was an amazing rider. He wasn’t your modern day ‘toe in the iron’ rider. He used to sit back in the saddle and really go for it. Stathi was a champion, champion rider and Collo was also an amazing rider.
“I have ridden against some of the best and it is no disgrace to get beaten by guys like that.”
For all of the praise he has heaped on those riders, the jockey that Byrne rates as the most difficult opponent he faced over all of these years is not any of those mentioned above.
That rider’s name is Michael Pelling.
“Michael Pelling was the most difficult opponent I have ridden against … probably just because of how hard a rider he was.
“The guy would be right on top of you the whole race. He would basically ride by feel. He would know his speed. He would know where horses should be … and if they weren’t he’d be looking for certain horses in the field to see where they where and to ride his horse accordingly.
“If he was to your outside … well, you just had to work so hard to get out … he was just amazing, and so tough, that regard.
“He beat me one year on Adam in the Doomben 10 000 when he was on Laurie’s Lottery and, ok, yes I will concede, he outspoke me in the steward’s room. I was quite young then. I’d like to argue my case again today.
“He was one of those guys who taught you how things should go and how you should conduct yourself as a person and as a rider. He was without doubt one of the hardest riders I have ridden against. A really great competitor.”
And, while there is still more to come, the horse that Byrne rates the best he has ridden to date might also be a surprise.
“I’ve always thought the best horse I’ve ridden in terms of raw ability … he was just such an amazing horse … was General Nediym,” said Byrne. He might not be right up there in terms of absolute class-wise with some of the other horses I have ridden … but how quick he could cover ground was quite amazing.
“My most satisfying victory to date though would have to be the J Atkins on Rothfire.
“That came after the knee injury I suffered, which I mentioned,earlier … and I had to work so hard to get myself right for that race. There is a lot a pain involved in working your way back from injury. I couldn’t box. I couldn’t run … so all of my previous fitness work I used to do, I couldn’t do … so all of my fitness work was in the pool.
“It was because I had to work so hard to get there that Rothfire was my most satisfying victory.
Any racing goals left on the bucket list?
“I still say today that, before I retire, I want to do one more stint overseas,” said Byrne.
“I rode overseas in 2001 and 2002 in Macau. Barry Baldwin approached me about going to Macau. I always wanted to travel but Macau wasn’t in the forefront of my thoughts … I was actually wanting to go to Hong Kong … but I felt I needed a change and with my kids being quite young at the time … it was a good opportunity.
“I actually cannot express how grateful I am to Barry Baldwin. He just opened every door for me and he was so instrumental in any success I had over in Macau. He removed every obstacle an made us feel so much at home.
“We enjoyed it that much over there that, even when I was finished riding in Macau, I wasn’t planning to come back to Australia immediately. I was hoping to ride in Singapore but, then we did come back to Australia. We put the kids in school and, as things turned out, I never even applied to go to Singapore.
“So, it’s a case of a bit of unfinished business.
“That’s why I still want to travel and do another stint overseas. I do understand that I am getting longer in the tooth and that my body has got to be right for it, but hopefully things will get better in that regard and I’ll be able to do one more stint away.
“That would round off things pretty nicely.”
“When it comes to racing though … wherever I am … racing is what I know. It is what I do. It is who I am” continued Byrne.
“I’ve done it since I was fifteen. This is my trade. It is who I am basically. It is my life and you do it because you love doing it. You don’t come into racing thinking you are ever going to get out of it because you never do.
“It has afforded me a great life and I’ve got a beautiful family, so I’m very grateful for the way things have worked out for me.”