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A long-term family connection with revered Deagon trainer Pat Duff has landed hoop Corey Sutherland an opportunity to rise in the apprentice ranks.
The 19-year-old previously worked for Cody Morgan out of Tamworth in NSW but has over the last month moved north to Brisbane with the Queensland Hall Of Fame conditioner.
Duff has a long history of mentoring young riders and Corey Sutherland will join the likes of Jim Byrne, Mick Dittman, Michael Pelling and Mandy Radecker, among others.
After taking his debut rides in February of this year, Sutherland was battling to get consistent chances around the bush of NSW.
He has known the Pat Duff family for many years, with Sutherland's father doing the stable's farrier work for some time.
"I was with Cody but there was just not many opportunities around there with the likes of heavyweight riders in Aaron Bullock and others," Sutherland said.
"My dad actually did the shoes on horses for Pat for a long time – we know them very well – so I thought it would be the best thing for my career to come up here.
"He is a very, very good bloke Pat and knows a lot.
"It has been awesome ever since I have been up here, I have got a lot of rides lately.
"I have only been here for three weeks but it has been pretty good so far."
The teenage jockey rode his first winner for his former boss Morgan in early March at Tamworth.
''Corey is very similar to Jackson Searle and Braith Nock,'' Morgan said about Sutherland at the time.
''They all grew up doing the rodeos and it is just a great avenue to get those apprentice jockeys because they have grown up the hard way as far as the skill level that they get through rodeoing.
''Whether it be Tye Angland, my brother Luke, and myself, we all grew up rodeoing and whenever they come across from that discipline, it normally bodes pretty good.''
Sutherland has hit the ground running in the Sunshine State, collecting a victory at Nanango late last month and has a strong book of engagements for his trip to Gayndah on Saturday.
He has already picked up more rides in his short stint living in Queensland than his entire tenure south of the border.
"It is more full-on up here compared to Tamworth but I enjoying it and have adjusted to it pretty quickly," he said.
Sutherland has mainly ridden work for Duff at Deagon since he relocated but also ventured into town for jump outs with Les Ross recently.
He heads to Gayndah on Saturday with a book of four rides: two for Duff and two for Leigh Wanless.
The apprentice identified Cruising Bill in the QTIS Maiden Plate over 1000 metres as his pick of the quartet.
"I really like Cruising Bill, he comes back from Sunny Coast form and he was only beaten four lengths the other day," the hoop said.
"From the gate on Saturday, he should be pretty hard to beat.
"I think Gentle Prince in the Cup, from barrier one, should be competitive on his two runs recently at Gatton and the Gold Coast.
"If Gentle Prince brings that form on Saturday, there is no reason he can't win as well."
At 180 centimetres tall, Sutherland is one of the taller riders in the Queensland jockey ranks.
In comparison, he notes he is a little bit shorter than Justin Huxtable and just taller than James Orman.
Despite his height, the emerging jockey says his weight is not much of a concern at this stage of his career.
"I am doing it pretty easy, I just ride at 55kgs comfortably," he said.
"I rode at 52kgs the other day.
"When summer comes around I will probably drop it down to 53.5kgs.
"I am pretty naturally light."
Sutherland joins the likes of Mitch Goring, Casey Waddell and Kiran Quilty as apprentice riders who have relocated to Queensland from the southern states chasing more riding opportunities in recent months.
