JIMMY ORMAN - A GUEST BLOG FROM A RISING TALENT

By Jimmy Orman | Friday, October 30, 2015

Jimmy Orman has been the find of the season so far in metropolitan racing in Queensland. His quietly spoken manner and modest demeanour means he still tends to fly under the radar to a greater degree than some other up-and-coming riders. As a result, his achievements in the saddle to date have arguably not been acknowledged for their true worth.

Orman is the last person to want to get ahead of himself and granted it is early days for the rider, but for Orman to currently have his name at the top of the Brisbane Jockey’s Premiership table when he is only a little over two years into his apprenticeship is a really bold effort. That is why, in keeping with HRO’s policy of promoting young talent, Orman was invited to be HRO’s Guest Blogger for the week.

My dad was a jockey. I always wanted to be a jockey.

I did show-jumping and that, but becoming a jockey was always on my mind. Mom (Caroline Allardyce) wasn’t really training at the time, but I was riding one of the horses that she’d retired called Red Suit and when she put him back into work I started riding him in work and I progressed from there.

Mom and dad didn’t really want me to become a jockey but as I continued to make progress they really couldn’t say no.

I became apprenticed to my mom and I was doing block training at Caloundra. I ended up having my first race ride at Nanango about a year later when I was sixteen.

Then, when I got going I started going up north a lot and the experience and results I got there helped me move forward, along with what I doing back Toowoomba, and that all enabled me to start riding in town a bit earlier than some I guess.

I started riding in Toowoomba before town obviously. I got a nice kick-a-long there. Trainers like Michael Nolan and others put me on with the claim. So that helped me and I appreciate that.

It was only a relatively short time after I started riding that I was able to come to town.

My first visit to Doomben on July 2, 2014 was special. I only had one ride, for my mom, on a horse called Iniquity and we were able to win that one which was great.

Riding in town was never plain sailing though. Just after the carnival ... so not that long ago really ... I was going bad in town so I went back to Toowoomba for two weeks.

I got a good book of rides. I rode some winners for the Toowoomba trainers and they then put me up on those winners when they went to town. Then I started getting ahead from there on again.

While talking about my time at Toowoomba I have to mention that I probably wouldn’t be where I am today without the help of Ronnie Maund and Chris Maund. They both taught me how to ride ... how to get them out the gates and things like that.

I was only riding one in work for mom and they started bringing a truck down to Gatton where we were jumping them out and they were helping me learn the ropes.

Now I’m getting my share of city rides from city trainers but I still go up to Toowoomba and help some of the trainers out because they put me on a lot too.

There is obviously a big difference riding in town compared to provincial meetings. There is that transition process as you learn to adapt to the changes and the challenges of riding against top jockeys.

To generalise, and it is a generalisation, at provincial level they pretty much go flat-chat. In town it’s a lot more professional. You can’t just push out. They hold you in sort of thing.

Obviously most riders in town are just higher class riders so you just have to learn to lift your game if you want to be competitive there.

You can say I have surprised myself this season. I try not to look at the early season success too much or read too much into it. I don’t want to set myself up for a fall.

But, yes, I have surprised myself a bit but, as much as anything I’m doing, it does come down the fact that I’ve been getting on good horses and have been given opportunities by good trainers. That helps.

I love riding in town. It’s a lot more pressure but it is rewarding in many ways. You are riding against the best in the state so you are constantly learning ... and, if you can hold your own, it also helps the bank balance.

I only come out of my time in May 2017 so I have a long way to go yet, but I obviously have no complaints about the way things are going at the moment.

For the record, so far this season, with barely three months gone, the extremely hard working Orman has ridden 47 winners at a strike rate of 16.3%

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