THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN - APPRENTICES ARE DOING THEIR BIT IN THE NEW WORLD ORDER

By Graham Potter | Sunday, September 22, 2013

Graham Potter writes a weekly column for the Sunshine Coast daily. Due to demand from those having trouble accessing the paper these columns are now also published on HRO courtesy of the Sunshine Coast daily

There is a school of thought that believes apprentice jockeys have it too easy these days.

I don’t agree.

It is true that the hard, physical work once expected from the apprentice in the stable-yard has decreased markedly and that the strict, no nonsense discipline imposed by the apprentice’s ‘master’ is no longer applied in the draconian sense, but the life of an apprentice keen to further his or her career is anything but easy.

The dedicated apprentice’s life these days is driven more by racing schedule than stable routine.

Mackay – Thursday; Grafton – Friday; Sunshine Coast – Saturday; Dalby – Sunday … that, just by way of example, has been the riding schedule of apprentice Beau Appo for the last four days.

Let’s take a step back and dissect that for a moment.

Appo was on a flight to Mackay early on Thursday morning. It was his first day back from suspension and Appo was keen to get on with it.

He would return to Brisbane the same evening with a winner and two seconds under his belt, but those stats don’t tell the whole story.

You see, Brisbane airport simply does not cope with its traffic load. Most incoming aircraft enter a ‘holding pattern’ near Brisbane while they await the directive to land and, while sitting in a plane might is not classed as a hardship, these delays do extend the ‘working day’ of those on board. For Appo it would be a long day.

Friday … another day of travel. This time it was destination Grafton, a little over 300km by road from Brisbane with the drive taking between three-and-a-half and four hours … each way!

Another late finish.

On to Saturday … rides at the Eagle Farm meeting then on to a night meeting at the Sunshine Coast, with the last race jumping at 9.27pm.

Then Sunday. A day of rest? Not likely!

Rather Appo scheduled finishing off the weekend with six rides at Dalby … just another five hour round trip from Brisbane!

Are you getting the picture?

Throw in riding work, reviewing videos of your rides, doing your form etc, and apprentices on the move have very little time left for mucking out stables. That should not be held against them if they are doing the hard yards somewhere else.

As for discipline, I would suggest self-imposed discipline is more difficult to master than when it is forcibly imposed on you.

That is just another test the modern day apprentice faces, not just on the track but with the lifestyle options that tempt today’s youth.

Appo is obviously not alone. I could have chosen several other fine, young riders hard at work in the apprentice fold, but this example will suffice to make the point.

Clearly, if you are in the group doing well you are working hard. If you are battling, you are doing it tough. If you are not doing enough you will simply fall by the wayside.

‘Too easy’ … there is no such thing!

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