Tom Marquand making his mark in Australia
When 21-year-old British jockey Tom Marquand arrived in Australia at the beginning of the year, little did he know he would become a Group 1-winning rider just three months later. And he certainly wasn’t expecting the elite level win to come with an English-trained horse.
Seven days ago, ‘Aussie Tom’ partnered the William Haggas-trained Addeybb (Pivotal) to victory in the Ranvet Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m), the first of what is likely to be many Group 1 wins across his career and the former English Champion Apprentice is still coming to terms with it.
“It’s pretty mad considering the whole build up from riding ponies to pony racing, to apprenticeships to getting your licence, and that is the goal (to win a Group 1), the whole way through, so it’s pretty mad,” Marquand told ANZ Bloodstock News.
Marquand has built a strong partnership with Newmarket-based trainer Haggas over the last few seasons with 158 rides for 39 wins at a strike-rate of almost 25 percent, making the win all the more special.
“Last year I thought I might have found a couple of horses early in the year that might get me there and things didn’t materialise,” he continued.
“I was thinking I was going to struggle in the early part of the year to be able to find those Group 1 horses but I certainly didn’t expect it to be in Australia on an English horse. I did not think that would happen.”
Despite coming from a family with no ties to racing, Marquand knew from a young age that being a jockey was what he wanted to do.
“I rode from the age of about four but I was probably on five or six when I decided I wanted to be a jockey,” Marquand said. “It was a bit strange because I have no family in racing or connected to racing or with any interest in racing at all.
“I never had my own pony until I was like 13 but I ended up doing quite a bit of pony racing from that age on other people’s ponies for about a year, and then when mum and dad realised I was serious about doing it, they let me get a racing pony.
“I did a couple of years with that and spent time at the racing school amid riding out for local trainers.
“I was riding out trying to get more involved to get through the school. In the summer I went down to Andrew Balding, I think I was 14 or 15, and then I went to Richard Hannon for a week and that’s where I ended up going as an apprentice and staying all the way through.”
It was in 2016 that the then–apprentice got his first taste of Australian racing when he was offered an opportunity to travel to Melbourne and ride for David Hayes and Tom Dabernig for a month on Sheikh Mansour’s exchange program.
“Sheikh Mansour does the apprentice series around the world,” Marquand continued. “So they started up a new thing where they were going to fund one apprentice from one country and then one apprectice in another country and they were basically going to switch, so basically a student exchange.
“After my first year of riding they asked if I wanted to do that so I took them up on it and I went down to Melbourne to ride for them (Hayes and Dabernig).
“I was lucky, I had like nine rides and they put me on an even money favourite for Sheikh Hamdan at Caulfield on a Saturday before I’d even arrived and he went and won and the same horse actually won again like two days before I left.
“So I had two metro winners from nine rides and I couldn’t believe my luck.
“I left with a very good taste in my mouth from Australia so I knew I always wanted to come back but the next couple of years, I rode out my claim and I wasn’t able to get away from English racing for that amount of time for it to be worth coming down.”
Worried about losing momentum in England, it was during the British winter last year that Richard Hannon’s former assistant trainer Tom Ward, who now trains in his own right, convinced Marquand to come back to Australia and base himself in Sydney.
“Tom Ward helped me out a lot,” he continued. “I was talking to him about it and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m going to go back to David and Tom in Melbourne I think, and have a winter down there’.
“I didn’t want to ride another full all-weather winter, just because I wanted to go and learn something else, and he (Ward) was like, ‘No, you’re not going down there, you’re going to Sydney’ and I was like ‘oh, right’ and he was like ‘you’re going to John O’Shea’ and I was like ‘ah, alright’,” the jockey laughed.
After arriving in Sydney, things struggled to take off for Marquand as he wasn’t getting as many rides as he would have liked. He began questioning his decision to base himself in New South Wales, but after landing a metro double at Randwick in late December, 2018, things began to fall into place.
“For the first couple of weeks when I came over I was like, ‘Oh, what have I done?’,” Marquand said.
“I was struggling to get any rides and I was thinking, ‘I could be in Melbourne right now riding nice horses for Lindsay Park’ and then all of a sudden on my third or fourth Saturday here, I rode a double.
“One of them was actually on one of Lindsay Park’s horses for Coolmore and then John (O’Shea) found me a winner on my first ride for him on Live And Free and then it just took off and I had a great time, so I came back.”
It’s no secret that the English raider has become a popular member of the industry down under but he has formed a great relationship with the in-form stable of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, one for which he cannot give reason.
“I have no idea (how they picked me up),” Marquand continued.
“Last year I think I rode the same horse for them twice in the provincials and I got beat on it twice.
“This time I was just riding as normal, I hadn’t had a ride for them yet this year round, and all of a sudden they put me on Away Game and Prague in two Group 3s and I was like, ‘Alright, thanks’,” he laughed.
“I don’t know whether it had anything to do with it but obviously Harry Eustace (Haggas’ assistant trainer) is David’s brother and his father is James so I’ve had quite a lot to do with the family and have been working for Haggas a bit.
“Annabel Neasham (Maher and Eustace’s assistant trainer) is obviously English as well, so I don’t know whether it was just a few things combined but it’s been a great link up so far. Obviously we’ve had quite a bit of success this year and they’ve had a phenomenal year.”
The 21-year-old steered Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) winner Away Game (Snitzel) to victory in the Widden Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) and Prague (Redoute’s Choice) to land the Canonbury Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) for the Maher and Eustace team, both on the same day at Randwick.
A week and a half later, he took out the $2 million Inglis Millenium (RL, 1100m) aboard Prime Star (Starspangledbanner) for Richard and Michael Freedman and cemented himself as one of the world’s most exciting up and coming jockeys.
While his stint in Australia was set to finish at the end of February and he was due to return to the UK, the prospect of securing some exciting rides across the Sydney Autumn Carnival, particularly aboard the Haggas pair Addeybb and Young Rascal (Intello), lured Marquand back a month later.
On his first day back in the southern hemisphere, Marquand returned to Prague’s back and won the Pago Pago Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) at Rosehill and all but sealed the ride on the classy colt in the Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) the following week.
Though he didn’t take out the richest juvenile race in the world, it was still a day the young rider will never forget, winning his maiden Group 1 on Addeybb and taking out the N E Manion Cup (Gr 3, 2400m) aboard compatriot Young Rascal.
And he’s not done yet.
Today, Marquand’s book of rides at Rosehill is as classy as ever as he takes the reins on Zipping Classic (Gr 2, 2400m) winner Southern France (Galileo) in the Tancred Stakes (Gr 1, 2400m) as well as Fascino (Charm Spirit) in the Vinery Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m), Vegadaze (Lope de Vega) in the Star Kingdom Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) and Mask Of Time (Holy Roman Emperor) in the Doncaster Prelude (Gr 3, 1500m). Just to name a few.
Beyond today, there is every chance he could be returning to England as a multiple Group 1–winning jockey with bookings for Young Rascal in the Sydney Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) and Addeybb in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m), both of whom are currently clear favourites.
It’s easy to assume that, given the success he has had during his limited time here and the prize-money on offer, the talented rider would consider basing himself in Australia but for him, home will always remain in England.
“With the success I’ve had down here in such a short amount of time, a lot of people have been asking (if I’m going to stay in Australia) but I think I personally, at the moment, see my home and career in England,” Marquand said.
“I love coming down here and it’s actually something that works very well with the English season. I can do three or four months at a time here and it doesn’t affect what happens at home.
“If anything, it’s probably a good thing for home because I go back and ride even better. It definitely helps my riding when I’m at home, so while I can’t see myself here long term and living here, I don’t think it matters that much.”
On what he wants to achieve now that he’s got that elusive Group 1 next to his name, Marquand said: “For me from childhood it was like, Group 1 winner, Champion Jockey. That was it. That was as good as it gets.
“I’ve ticked one box, hopefully one day I can tick the other because I think Champion Jockey in England is pretty much as good as it gets.
“It’s a sign recognised worldwide of someone that’s made it, whereas a Group 1 winner is incredible for yourself but anyone can ride a Group 1 winner on the right horse. Champion Jockey is just slogging it out for the whole summer and I quite enjoy that I think.”