DITTMAN FLOURISHING UNDER THE WALLER BANNER

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, October 14, 2020

There are plenty of jockeys out there with ability but only a small percentage of them get a real opportunity to showcase their talent on good horses and that number decreases again when you eliminate those who didn’t make the most of the opportunity presented to them. So, it is ability, opportunity and what you do with that opportunity that dictates the level of success. Always a talented rider, Luke Dittman’s opportunity came when he offered the chance to align himself with the Gold Coast stable of Chris Waller and he is a prime example of a jockey who has grasped his opportunity with both hands to the point where he is now enjoying a regular run of winners. Here, Luke Dittman chats to HRO’s Graham Potter about the path that brought him to his current position

“I have to be honest, my association with the Chris Waller stable started with a lot of luck. I can’t deny that.

“Covid initially put jockeys into zones and that gave me the opportunity to get involved with the stable.

“I then also had a lot of luck in the early set with regard to results … obviously you have got to have the horse underneath you … but things went well and the relationship has flourished into what it has turned into today.

“I rode a horse called Thrum early in the Covid break-up period in April. The stable had four runners and he was probably third or fourth on the list … and he ended up getting up and winning pretty impressively.

“From there I got another ride … and then another ride.

“A lot of things just fell into place over the next month after which I was offered the job to ride for the Chris Waller stable.

“I don’t think anyone in Australia could knock that back. I’ve been more than happy ever since … and I’ve just been lucky enough to ride winners for him every week.

“They are a big stable, of course. They know what they are talking about. They have a lot of winners and a lot of owners with expectations. They are very professional. They set high standards so obviously you can’t go to races, whether it be Ipswish or Eagle Farm or Randwick, and do something silly or do something wrong.

“They certainly do give you your chance. I get offered a lot of rides by the stable. I seem to be on the majority of them, but whatever they offer me to ride I am happy to get on the back of them.

“I would say about seventy-five percent of my total rides would be for the Waller stable.

“I don’t think a week has gone by where I haven’t had three, four, five rides for them … and, in saying that, amongst those, there is always a favourite, or a good chance or a feature race ride coming up.

“When you’ve got Chris Waller’s name next to yours and the support that obviously Paul Shailer, the Chris Waller stable foreman at the Gold Coast, gives me … like I said, I couldn’t be happier.

“I get on very well with Paul. I didn’t know him too well before I started riding for him, but now he is like the big brother I never had.

“He is the older version of me basically. He is a lovely bloke. He knows racing back to front. Obviously, Chris Waller trusts him to run the stable up here which speaks volumes about Paul’s character and expertise.

“So, you can understand why it is great to be part of the team.

“I love it. It’s what I do for a living and every jockey wants to turn up at the races and ride winners and with the stable’s support I have been able to do that.

“I just hope it goes on as long as they are happy with me.”

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