HAVING started out life as a National Hunt jockey back home in Ireland, I switched to the flat when moving to Britain in 2013 but it is only really since relocating to Australia eight years ago that everything took off.

Now fully settled, with a wife and young family, I have never had any regrets about the decision I took and last weekend Pride Of Jenni credited me with a second career Group 1 winner when landing the Empire Rose Stakes at the Spring Carnival at Flemington.

While my family wouldn’t have had any direct links with racing when I was very young, we always had ponies at home. One of five children, I would have grown up with pony club, show jumping and hunting. My older brother Micheal went on to become a jump jockey, so I guess I just followed him into it.

In my late teens, my father trained the odd point-to-point horse as a hobby but while I was in primary school it was just the ponies. It was not until I was 14 that I sat on a racehorse for the first time.

I recall it was at Eoin Griffin’s yard in Kilkenny, where Micheal was based at the time. Three years later, while still in school, I had my first ride in a point-to-point on a horse trained by my father. As I used to ride out for local handlers James and Vinny Devereaux, I also partnered a few horses for them in points.

Invaluable

After leaving school, I went up to Peter McCreery in Kildare for a couple of years. Although I didn’t get too many rides, I picked up invaluable experience during my time there. My weight was always quite good, so when Philip Rothwell was looking for a conditional jockey, Peter recommended me.

I suppose a feature of my career has been that it has been something of a slow burner from the very outset. However, after a few lean seasons, I enjoyed a really good campaign in 2011/’12, riding 25 winners, only just losing out on the conditional title.

Unfortunately injury cut short the following season, forcing me to take stock of my career. Being quite light, I decided to give the flat a try but knew that in order to do so, I would need to move to the UK.

Aidan Coleman got me the job of apprentice to David Evans who is based in Monmouth, Wales. I spent one full season over there but after riding out my claim, I found it made more sense to ride freelance.

Although I was riding plenty of winners, prize money isn’t great in Britain, so I was never going to make a sustainable living from it. At that point, I was at somewhat of a crossroads; together with my girlfriend (at the time) Jennifer, I could return home to Ireland or chance my luck in Australia.

The Group 1 Sharp EIT All-Star Mile winners Pride Of Jenni and Declan Bates \ Colin Bull

Back in 2012, I had formed part of the Irish team that travelled Down Under for the annual Ireland v Australia Jockeys’ Challenge, while more recently I had attended Shane Jackson’s wedding, so I was somewhat familiar with the country. Having made up my mind to give it a go, I moved in with the latter, who also helped get me a job with trainer Symon Wilde in Warrnambool.

That is quite a rural part of the country, so there were few flat riders around, so it proved the perfect base. I really hit the ground running, rode plenty of winners and built up strong connections. With my initial Visa only permitting me to work for someone for six months, after that time elapsed, I left Symon and went to trainer Daniel Bowman. He ended up sponsoring me, something that turned out to be a blessing, as despite only having a small string, Dan happened upon a genuine Group 1 horse in the form of Begood Toya Mother.

That horse’s win in the 2019 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield provided me with the first top level success of my career. Timing is everything in racing. I have no doubt, I was just in the right place at the right time, to link up with an up and coming young trainer.

Taken off

Since then, my career has really taken off. With racing continuing throughout the pandemic out here, I enjoyed a fantastic 2020, riding winners at the Spring Carnival and even securing a ride in that year’s Melbourne Cup.

Owner Tony Ottbre has used me on the majority of his horses in recent seasons, something that led to my second Group 1 winner on Saturday. While Pride Of Jenni is stabled with leading Australian trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, the fact she is owned by Tony secured me the ride in the Empire Rose Stakes.

As a free going mare, it was always the plan to make the running on Pride Of Jenni, so in effect, the pre-race plan worked out to perfection on race day.

I was delighted to ride a Group 1 winner for the owner, who has been so supportive of me. The way my career has progressed since taking that life-changing decision to move out here to Australia, I certainly have no regrets.

Looking towards the future, I will undoubtedly see out my race-riding career over here. While I like the idea of moving back home at some point, Australia is home for our kids.

Having never ridden a flat winner in Ireland, I’d love to put that right one day but right now I am content with how everything has worked out.

Declan Bates was in conversation with John O’Riordan