Sport
24 July, 2024
Veteran North West jockey adds another feature race to his collection
Keith Ballard continues to achieve new things in the saddle.
Queensland's oldest jockey has achieved pretty much all he can in the North West, but he still managed to achieve a “first” on Saturday.
“That was my first Hughenden Cup win,” said Mount Isa’s Keith Ballard, who rode outsider Texas Storm to victory in the feature race over 1400m.
“But I haven’t ridden in many because for a lot of my career I didn’t have to leave Mount Isa as we used to race every Saturday.”
Texas Storm started as a $14 chance in the Hughenden Cup and was having just his second start for Julia Creek trainer Tanya Parry.
In his first race in the region, at Mount Isa five days before the Cup, Ballard said he struggled in the conditions.
“He was squeezed out at the start and got smothered in the dirt and wouldn’t gallop,” he said.
“Tanya knew he was a bit of a forward-running horse so that was the plan (at Hughenden).”
While Texas Storm wasn’t the quickest out of the gates in the Cup, Ballard mustered speed to sit outside the leader before making his run at the 400m mark.
He had to hold off a late surge from favourite Reformist to win.
The jockey, who is now in his early 70s, said it was good to get a win in what has been a lean year by his own standards.
“I was going there thinking I only had one winning chance and that was Hi Zero and he ended up being scratched,” Ballard said.
“Hughenden isn’t my favourite track because the camber on the final turn takes you off the fence ... a lot of horses don’t like it.
“I would have retired a couple of years ago but we were desperately short of jockeys ... I know that Terry Hill is Tanya’s number one jockey but I’m happy to do a job each week if I can.”
Ballard said it was probably his quietest year since his son Dan came back to the North West from the south-east, when he became wife Denise’s number-one jockey.
Racing in the North West turns to Julia Creek this Saturday with a five-race program, followed by the Corfield Cup meet on August 3.