RONAN Whelan will spend the next two months riding in Australia and will soon be joined there by Shane Foley.

The two leading flat jockeys begin their winter in the sun, just as Dylan Browne McMonagle has returned from a succesful six-week stint down under.

Whelan’s father Tom, a noted sales consignor and pre-trainer, said: “Ronan and his girlfriend Emma Doyle will both be working for trainers Tom Charlton and John O’Shea in Sydney. Ronan expects to have his riding licence for January.

“I hope Ronan returns by the end of February, as he is very involved in our Church View Stables operation and I have a lot of horses for him to ride. He is a big help to me.”

Shane Foley will depart for Melbourne on December 29th and his wife Lorraine will join him in a month’s time. “I’ll be gone for seven weeks in total,” Foley said.

“I’ll be based at Cranbourne in Melbourne, working for Ciaron Maher. Adrian Joyce, who used to train here, is one of his assistants. Yulong Investments have horses in training there, so I am hoping to renew that connection.”