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By Ray Hickson

It took four years for jockey Ashley Morgan to be an overnight success but what the Welsh import learned as he claimed a surprise NSW Jockeys Premiership is that hard work pays off.

That’s not being unfair to Morgan describing the title as a surprise – the previous season netted 82.5 wins so to end 2021/22 on 136 was beyond his wildest dreams.

Last season's NSW premiership winning jockey Ashley Morgan (Pic: Bradley Photos).

He beat out champion hoop James McDonald, whose absence late in the season Morgan does concede aided his cause but regardless it’s an achievement he’s proud of and hopes to build on – wherever that may be.

“At the start of the season I wanted to ride 100 winners, I didn’t have a premiership on my mind,’’ Morgan said.

“I thought if I could ride 100 winners once in my life it’s a great thing to do.

“I got to January and I was second or third on the table and I had 14 winners in January and 14 in February and it put me level with James.

“I said to my manager ‘it’d be great if we could keep this up and try and win this’. I didn’t think I would be able to do something like that when I came to Australia.”

It was a very different Ashley Morgan that landed at Scone in May 2018 to take up a role with trainer Brett Cavanaugh having cold-called – or emailed as the case was – a number of trainers looking for a fresh start.

This was a man who had quit riding for two years, to work as a real estate agent and for an IT recruitment company, because he felt he wasn’t making any inroads in England.

Somewhat ironically, the 32-year-old now credits those jobs for bringing him out of his shell and even though in his last season of riding in the UK he had just 94 rides (for 16 winners) the idea of a comeback was born.

“At one stage I rode two winners in the space of three months,’’ he said.

“I thought if I couldn’t get a push on when I was still claiming three pounds I’m probably not going to get on. All I wanted to do was be a jockey from when I was a kid but I didn’t just want to be a work rider.

“I left school when I was 14 so I’d never been in an office environment. It helped me be better at the things I wasn’t good at in racing. Like being on the phone and communicating, I wasn’t the most forthcoming with owners and trainers in putting myself out there.

“I went back to Wales for a bit and had the idea of riding again in my head, I spoke to my grandfather (Gareth, on whose horses he learned to ride) about coming back riding but I was about 70kg at the time. I started running the roads at home to get my weight down.”

To get back into the swing of riding, Morgan accepted a job in the US riding work for Santa Anita trainer Pete Eurton thanks to a recommendation from his friend Simon Pearce who had also secured a job there.

It was at that time he began contacting trainers in Australia looking for work.

“I sent out emails to trainers in Australia and didn’t get much of a reply,’’ he said.

“A couple came back and said no, a couple said they had a job for a work rider. But Brett Cavanough asked for my number and called me up and said when could I get over.

“I had to get a Visa sorted, I already had planned to go to America and ride work for a bit to get my weight down because I hadn’t sat on a horse for two years. I didn’t want to turn up and forget what I was doing.”

Morgan quickly found things were very different in Scone to what he was used to riding in places like Newmarket and Santa Anita but he also appreciated that it was a place where he could thrive.

But it wasn’t as close to Sydney as he was led to believe.

“I’m from a rural town in Wales so it wasn’t that different to what I was used to,’’ he said.

“And it was good because there was nowhere to go, no distractions so all I was focusing on was getting to a proper riding weight and staying fit.”

Gilgandra would be the setting for Morgan’s first Australian winner, on $71 chance Hidden Chief in a Benchmark 50 over 800m, and it came relatively quickly but it took almost two years before he felt opportunities were really starting to arrive.

Ashley Morgan wins the 2021 Dubbo Cup on Aesop's Fable (Pic: Janian McMillan)

He says winning the Muswellbrook Cup in 2020 on $51 chance Petrology was a turning point and he felt he went from just “chipping away” to getting some momentum.

Last season he rode in 1041 races, a far cry from those 94 races in his final season back home.

“I didn’t know what to expect,’’ he said.

“I set myself a target of 30 winners in the first year and we got 45 so that was ideal. Sixteen was the most I’d ridden in Britain so I thought it was a bit ambitious.

“I didn’t work that hard when I was in England. In Australia if you go there and put your head down you can achieve whatever you want.

“I did a lot of driving and rode in a lot of races but I think it was hard work that got me to where I was.

“The lads always took the mickey out of me for going to so many meetings but being away from racing for those two years I really missed it so I appreciated the rides I was getting and winners I was riding more than I ever have.

“The rider I am since I’ve been in Australia is completely different to before. If you work hard you get the rewards for it, I think people appreciate someone who wants to get stuck in.”

What Morgan wants to do on the back of his premiership win is go to another level. That might mean he angles for more rides in the city – given only one of his 136 were in Sydney – or it could mean taking up an opportunity back in America.

“Last season was great and I enjoyed it but I wouldn’t want to do it year in year out for the long haul,’’ he said.

“It’s taxing on the mind and body, I feel like there’s only so many years you can do that for and ride at your best. The travelling and doing a lot of hours does take the edge off you.

“I’d rather ride less and focus on doing that than being as busy as I was. If I was to focus on getting into town I could get down to 53kg or even lower, I ride 54kg without a sweat, and that opens more doors. If I was to stay that would be my way in.

“If it looks like I’m not going to get to a higher level and break into town more I probably would make the move.

“I didn’t think I’d win a premiership when I started so hopefully if I can keep going the way I’m going it’s not impossible.”

*This article originally appeared in the September 2022 edition of the Racing NSW magazine

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