ROBBIE FRADD RECALLS HIS FIRST CUP WIN IN AUSTRALIA AND THE DARWIN CARNIVAL EXPERIENCE

By Robbie Fradd | Monday, August 1, 2016

Robbie Fradd has extensive international race-riding experience. He has ridden in South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia and Mauritius and he is now happily settled in Australia. Here, on Darwin Cup day, Fradd recalls his first Cup win in Australia and just how enjoyable the whole Darwin Carnival experience was for this much travelled rider.

It was a great experience and a privilege for me to be invited to ride in Darwin some years ago.

I was based in Singapore at the time and was fortunate enough to visit Darwin on two occasions, back in 2008 and 2010.

The 2008 visit was the first time I had ridden in Australia and I had a nice carnival that year. I rode two winners for Stephen Brown ... but I didn’t win the Cup ... and I was very keen to get back there again to try and win the Darwin Cup itself.

In 2010 I managed to get a ride on a horse called Shout Out Loud, who was trained by Kerry Petrick. Hawks Bay was Cup favourite that year. In the race he was hard to chase down but we got there right on the line.

That was the good part.

But then, immediately after we crossed the line, I went to celebrate in the saddle and my foot slipped out of the stirrup iron ... the horse didn’t shy or anything, I did it myself ... and when my left foot came out of stirrup iron I kind of swung around the horses neck and hung onto him until the coast was clear and then I let go and came down.

I was a bit shaken up. No real bruising or soreness or anything like that ... but I was just shaken up enough to take me out of the presentation.

I was still in the jockey’s room when the presentation took place, which was unfortunate because I would have loved to have been part of that ... but I had won the Cup and that is what I had set out to do.

I had been really determined to win the Darwin Cup so there was a great deal of satisfaction in doing so.

That was my first Cup win in Australia.

It was great experience ... not just the racing side. It is just a great racing carnival. The ball on Saturday night is just unbelievable.

I couldn’t believe how many people were there. I met a people from all over Australia who had come up for the carnival.

Everybody goes there to have a good time ... and they do!

As I say, I was very fortunate to be invited there and I couldn’t thank them enough. I was so well looked after.

I am still very grateful to Jamie Chadwick, who was the PR / Marketing guy for Darwin Turf Club who organised everything for me. His brother is actually the head steward in Singapore.

Jamie was the one who came over to Singapore originally and asked me if I would be interested in going to Darwin. I didn’t hesitate. I said, of course I would be.

I have never been shy to travel and I just wanted to experience it all. The Darwin carnival was everything I expected it to be. It was great!

It was a really good time and I met some great people up there.

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HRO comment:

Hawks Bay, who Fradd and Shout Out Loud beat by the narrowest of margins in the 2010 cup went go on to win the Darwin Cup in both 2011 and 2012, the last horse to win back-to-back cups.

Jockey Paul Shiers, who was on Hawks Bay when he went down to Shout Out Loud but who did not ride the gelding in either of his cup wins, has the ride on last year’s Lightinthenite in the 2016 Darwin Cup.

Lightinthenite won the race by nine lengths in 2015 carrying 60kg. This year the Gary Clarke trained runner will carry 63kg, 7.5kg more than the next weighted runner.

Robbie Fradd