FRADD AND LLOYD - NO LONGER RIVALS - NOW A TEAM

By Graham Potter | Monday, September 28, 2020

Robbie Fradd rode the last two winners at the Gold Coast on Saturday, Mishani Destroyer ($7) and The Thick Of It ($21), and then he made it three winners from his last three rides when he saluted on Who Said So ($9.50), his only mount of the day, at the Sunshine Coast yesterday.

You would be forgiven if you thought it was just business as usual for the accomplished rider, particularly as he had also had a winner at Friday night’s meeting at the Sunshine Coast (Enterprise Moss) and it looked as if the momentum started there just rolled on into the weekend.

But, go back before the Enterprise Moss win and you will find that Fradd drew a blank in twenty-nine rides from 7 September to 29 September, a most unusual lean stretch for a jockey who is used to winning races on well fancied horses.

“Things were a bit quiet for a while, but you know it will pick up. It always does,” said Fradd. “The wheel turns … and that’s what has happened, although, in this game, whichever way it is going you have to take it one week at a time.

“When you have a bad run, it does worry you a touch. You might even want to start trying a bit too but you quickly realise that you just have to ride the storm … go back to basics … trust what you do and don’t ride anything different to the way you know best.

“I rode the storm. I did make one change, but that had nothing to do with my riding style or attitude.

“About two-and-a-half weeks ago I changed managers. Jeff Lloyd has taken over. It was just a business decision on my part. My previous manager Glen Courtney is a very good manager … but, you know, I just thought, he had five jockeys that he was looking after. That’s a lot and I felt I needed somebody just to be able to concentrate more on me.

“Jeff’s got Sean (Cormack) and myself now. His sons will come on board later, but that’s all he wants at the moment.

“Jeff, as we know, is very, very good with form. In fact, he is brilliant with form. Not only form, but he was a brilliant jockey himself so when he watches replays and studies races, he gets more information out it than most people. He watches how horses are ridden. He’ll pick out horses he thought were unlucky and he’ll try to get his jockeys on them. We might get on them. We might not but he does the work to give us a chance.

Remember, Jeff did his own rides in his last season as a jockey and we all know the success he had.
“Apart from his knowledge, Jeff is a very hard worker. I know he will work hard for me, so I’m obviously very happy to be on board with Jeff.

“I did ride at the Gold Coast on Saturday … and not at the main meeting in Toowoomba. I was offered two rides in Toowoomba. One ran second and one was about a $40 chance … so I said, look, if I can get seven rides at the Gold Coast I am more than happy to go there … and that’s where I went.

“I want to go where I can get my winners. For me that is important.”

Fradd and Lloyd … no longer rivals, but a team.

Better watch this space.

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