EVANS TO JOIN THE MICHAEL KENT STABLE
By Graham Potter | Tuesday, June 30, 2009
“I’m going to Melbourne on Monday. I’m joining Michael Kent. He offered me a good job down there. He’s based at Cranbourne. I’ve still got my 2kg so I’ll give it a crack while I can.”
The speaker was apprentice jockey Brent Evans, the undisputed find of the season in the riding ranks in Queensland, who will now move interstate in a bid to further his career.
“Choosing a new trainer was a difficult choice, but the hardest thing of all to decide was to leave Brisbane after all I have achieved up here,” continued Evans. “To leave Brisbane ... a big fish in a small pond here ... being a little fish in a big pond down there ... very big pond! That was the most difficult decision of all.”
It’s been a whirlwind ride for Evans. The speed of his ascent is perhaps best summed up by his reply to a question after he had scored on Mitanni in the Eye Liner at Ipswich. When asked what his goals were, Evans said, “I’ve been lucky. Things have moved pretty fast for me. I’ve run out of goals for now, you know. I’ll have to go home and sit down with a pen and paper and write a couple more I think.”
Evans was not being immodest. The speed of his success had overtaken his ambition. It was time to regroup, but Evans never got the chance. Somewhere on that list, probably some way into the future, would have been a move to Melbourne or Sydney. But like most things that have happened to Evans in his career so far, life accelerated into fast forward mode. This time the speed of events left Evans spinning, but he still had the presence of mind to buy some time before making a very important decision.
A need to change stables was forced upon the young rider when his former boss Lindsay Hatch was disqualified for twelve months after a blood sample taken from Space Ace prior to its win at Dalby on May 31 revealed a Total Plasma Carbon Dioxide level which exceeded the threshold allowed in the Australian Rules of Racing. Hatch was disqualified last Thursday, June 25.
“It was a shock when I heard about Lindsay,” admitted Evans. “I mean Lindsay came and told me a week ... or a couple of days before. I ride work six days a week, you know, six days out of the seven.
“I went home for my sister’s birthday during that time and it was hard to sort of organise things so quick. The stewards put a lot of pressure on me to hurry up and get someone (a new boss) on Friday. They said you have to get someone or you are not riding at the Coloundra Cup meeting. I felt like it was a bit rough at the time but stewards are stewards, you know. They’re doing their job and what they say goes in the end.”
Trainer David Murphy offered Evans a home for two weeks to allow him time to decide his future. Evans had a few options to consider. The cards have come down in favour of the Cranbourne based trainer Mike Kent and Evans will join the Victorian based trainer after completing his riding engagements at the inaugural meeting of the Brisbane Racing Club at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
Included in Evan’s rides on Saturday will be a leg-up onto the John Wallace Mitanni in the Ascot Handicap. That won’t be the last time Evans rides the nine-year-old. The two will be reunited in the Ramornie during the Grafton Carnival.
For all that has gone before, the learning curve for Evans is about to get a lot more interesting. Not only is he heading for a new environment and a stiff challenge, but he is linking up with a modern day trainer whose mission has been to take a scientific route to success.
Michael Kent trained his first Group 1 winner in 1994 when he sent out Bullwinkle to land the SA Derby. He 1996 he took the punt and moved to Singapore where he trained until 2001. He then relocated to Macau for the next four years before returning to his roots in 2005.
Kent’s runners in Australia only started on 60 occasions in that 2004/05 season yet those 60 runs produced 24 winners – a forty percent winning return. But it wasn’t only his results that caught attention. His methods created interest.
Since the late nineties Kent has worked with Professor Allan Davie, an exercise physiologist, on scrutinising the blood lactate levels of horses via prescribed sessions on the treadmill. Both believe this test and its results to be an invaluable tool in gauging the capability of any thoroughbred, both in terms of weighing up fitness and distance prowess. The belief is that blood lactate levels are a key pointer to stamina and that this factor can outweigh the bloodline genes.
Not shy to shift from mainstream practises and seek better alternatives, Kent remains focused in his quest for excellence and the combination of an innovative trainer and a young rising star will be an interesting mix in the coming months.
Footnote: Interestingly enough, the run for which Lindsay Hatch was disqualified, the win of Space Ace at Dalby, produced one of the seasons most amazing rides from Evans. The saddle shifted severely on the well-backed gelding early in the race, when leading. It would have been quite understandable, in fact almost normal practise, if Evans had pulled Space Ace wide and retired him from the race, but he kept riding.
According to the official Stewards Report, “B. Evans reported that the saddle on Space Ace commenced to slip near the 1500m.” Then ... “Near the 1300m B. Evans became extremely awkward in the saddle, placing him in considerable difficulty for the remainder of the race. Rounding the home turn B. Evans was obliged to kick his feet out of the irons to maintain his balance.”
... and B. Evans and Space Ace kicked on to an unlikely victory. The race might have been taken away from Space Ace with serious consequences for the trainer, but the video remains a great study in horsemanship from a rider with a most promising future.
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