3 minute read
He’s one of the state’s newest apprentices but Jake Barrett isn’t letting the excitement of his first race ride get in the way of the job at hand at Muswellbrook on Thursday.
The 22-year-old will be the eighth apprentice from the Team Thoroughbred NSW Training Academy to make their debut in 2021 when he rides All That Sass, a new recruit to the Kim Waugh stable, in the BHP Handicap (1280m).
There's a sense of anticipation from Jake Barrett – who could blame him - and Waugh has given him every chance to make a big first impression.
"Excited out of 100, I'd say about 110. It's been a long time coming,'' Barrett said.
"Once we realised this was going to be my first race ride I've been on (All That Sass) every day, done all the working gallops, I've got quite a good feel for her and I'm comfortable around her.
"The horse has drawn well, it's a Class 1 with 52.5kg, she's a front running horse so hopefully all going to plan it should be a good day out."
The irony of his first ride being on a former Gai Waterhouse trained horse now under the Kim Waugh banner isn't lost on Barrett – both trainers have shaped his journey so far.
Barrett grew up on the Central Coast and landed a weekend job as a 16-year-old at Waugh's Wyong stable. A couple of years later he worked at Tulloch Lodge where he says he learned the 'fundamentals of riding and horsemanship' under the eyes of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.
But when he decided to get serious about a career in racing, particularly as a rider, he rejoined the Waugh yard two years ago and earned his ticket to ride as part of the Team Thoroughbred NSW Training Academy.
"Kim is a great boss, the best boss I could have asked for,'' he said.
"The best way I could describe Kim is hard but fair, she expects the best. You give her the respect and she'll give it back.
"It's a long process and sometimes it's been a challenging process. When you're driven enough to do something you make sure you get it done. Here I am two years later doing it."
Barrett isn't from a racing background. His father is a mechanical engineer and he dabbled in that line of work, tried being a tiler, but it was his size that saw him gravitate towards working with horses.
"I was a natural lightweight so it was always difficult for me to find jobs that suited my physique,'' he said.
"When I was 19 I still wasn't too big so I thought I'd give it a crack and it's been a massive learning experience for me."
The training pathway for an apprentice jockey, via the Team Thoroughbred NSW Academy, is to complete track rider Certificate III, compete in a minimum of 20 barrier trials, ride in three trials in full race riding gear and shadow a senior jockey three times and assist with preparing riding gear and weighing out.
Once those steps have been passed the apprentice is signed up to Certificate IV (Jockey) and approved to ride in races.
For the most part the path for Barrett was smooth but he did hit a hurdle in recent months as the Covid-19 outbreak prevented him from riding trials at Wyong but he took it in his stride.
"I got really frustrated over it and it got quite annoying,'' he said.
"Then I realised there's a lot of people in worse situations than I am, I could still come to work every day and once I looked past that I had a much more positive outlook."
Of course Barrett has given thought to what it would be like to make the perfect start to his career in the saddle. Who wouldn't consider it?
Fellow graduates like Zac Wadick, Nicholas Hyde, Jasper Franklin, Ruby Haylock and Ben Osmond have ticked off their first winners in recent months.
There's no market pressure on him externally, All That Sass was a $10 chance with TAB on Wednesday, and Barrett said there's no benefit to getting his hopes up.
"As long as she runs a decent race and I put the horse in the right position at the right time, if she comes out top three I'd be chuffed,'' he said.
"To win your debut is any apprentice's dream but you can't go in thinking you're going to win because you'll be heartbroken if you don't."
