Statewide premiership winners honoured for 2020/21 season

With the 2020/21 racing season coming to an end at the weekend, there were some surprise results in the premierships across the state for riders and trainers, as well as a few annual triumphs.

As he has been for the best part of a decade, premier Brisbane trainer Tony Gollan lifted another metropolitan trainers’ premiership, while the jockeys title went to a first timer at the level.

Racing Queensland has looked far and wide to celebrate the season that was in 2020/21:

Tony Gollan - Metropolitan trainers’ premiership winner

It was title number eight on the trot for Queensland’s premier trainer.

Gollan also collected a couple more Group 1’s for his trophy cabinet this year, with stable mates Vega One and Krone adding to their resume.

In the metropolitan trainers’ premiership race, Gollan went past 100 for another season, finishing up on 103, to complete the triple-figure mark for the second straight campaign.

Gollan also set a new state record with 166 wins, bettering the mark he set last season with 157.5 victories.

“It has been a great season getting back and winning Group 1s again and I want to try to really keep myself in that carnival atmosphere all year around,” Gollan told News Corp recently.

“I want to be running my horses at all the carnivals and there’s no reason I can’t do it from Brisbane.

“I also really want to make Queensland carnivals here my own, I’ve always been big on that.”

Ryan Maloney - Metropolitan jockeys' premiership winner

The former Victorian-based hoop has been one of the leading men in the saddle across Queensland since making the move in 2018.

But, a metropolitan jockeys premiership has eluded him so far in his career, going back to his days in Victoria and his first couple of years in the Sunshine State, and the man they call “Pug” can now add it to his list of achievements.

The 36-year-old Group 1 winner fought off a challenge from experienced Brisbane hoop Jim Byrne to land the metro premiership with 77 victories on the season.

Maloney rode at a sparkling strike-rate of 23.1%, putting him in elite company for riders across Australia.

The Gollan and Maloney partnership was a lethal combination in 2020/21, leading towards the duo both claiming their individual premiership honours.

Maloney also spent some time riding in Sydney this past year, making his Queensland premiership all that more remarkable.

“I’ve never won a premiership before….it will give me good bragging rights and look good on my CV,” Maloney told News Corp recently.

State-wide premiership winners

To go with his metropolitan trainers’ premiership, Gollan also earned Queensland-wide honours over the last year.

The Eagle Farm-based trainer trained 166 winners across the entire state, more than double of his closest rival, the Sunshine Coast’s Stuart Kendrick.

On the jockey’s front, the smiling James Orman finished fourth overall in the metropolitan race but his efforts on the provincial circuit handed him the most victories of any rider this season.

Orman rode 126 winners at just under 20% across the Sunshine State, finishing seven ahead of Maloney, who collected 119 overall.

The 24-year-old Orman also brought up triple-figure winners in a season for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign, when he piloted 141 victories.

“I am really enjoying riding at the moment and I am keen to ride everywhere and anywhere," Orman told News Corp recently.

“I think I have matured a bit more as a rider, I have a good manager behind me and I have been riding for a few more stables.

“As an apprentice I was flying, when I came out of my apprenticeship I found it harder which everyone does. A lot of other apprentices go from riding in Brisbane to the Gold Coast but at least I am still here in Brisbane.

“I was floating along for a few seasons, now I am back in the top five in the metro standings and getting enough rides on Saturday’s and Wednesday’s – that has been good to be one of the top guys here.”

Stuart Kendrick - Provincial trainers’ premiership winner

The Sunshine Coast trainer won his home club premiership and with it came the provincial crown.

Kendrick trained 63.5 winners on the provincial circuit this year and 79.5 overall.

Snapping at his heals, however, was Tony Gollan (63), with the premiership going down to the wire on Saturday when Chompers saluted in the third at Aquis Park to cut the margin to 1.5 winners.

With two live hopes in contention, Gollan also snared the last with Mischief Managed, but it wasn’t enough to usurp Kendrick.

The experienced Sunshine Coast trainer proving as consistent as they come, training between 76 and 89 winners each of the last six seasons.

Ryan Wiggins - Provincial jockeys' premiership winner

The man they call “Wiggo” certainly earns his winners, travelling far and wide to boot them home.

The Group-1 winning rider is a regular at Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton and across South East Queensland and his tireless work ethic handed him the most winners on the provincial scene this past year.

It has been a year to remember for Wiggins, cracking the ton for just the second time in the last decade, with the 2020/21 campaign his career best result. 

Wiggins rode more winners on the provincial circuit than any other jockey over the last 12 months. 

Fellow hard-working hoop Justin Stanley finished second to his mate Wiggins.

Stanley looked to have the provincial premiership win stitched up in January, but a shoulder injury has put the respected jockey on the sidelines ever since.

Tanya Parry - Country trainers’ premiership winner

The veteran Julia Creek trainer is one of the stalwarts of Queensland bush racing and was rewarded with her best season over the last decade.

Parry went past 50 winners for the first time over the last 10 years.

Parry is known to travel all around the state and regularly fills up the fields at non-TAB club’s several hours away from her Julia Creek base.

That is backed up by the numbers, starting 550 horses over the last 12 months, with just under a 10% strike rate.

Parry collected 15 more victories than the Moranbah’s Bevan Johnson on the country circuit this year, who finished second in the trainers’ premiership.

Alisha Ross - Country jockeys' premiership winner

At the top of the rider’s leader board at the end of the bush season – it was the three “A’s” who stood above all else, alongside experienced rider Dan Ballard. 

The top three leading non-TAB hoops this season were Alisha Ross, Anna Bakos and Angela Jones – all three female apprentices.

They led the pack for much of the season, before Ballard fought his way into the top three in the final weekend of racing, finishing equal-third in the premiership alongside Jones on 37 victories.

It was Barcaldine’s Ross who rode more winners than her fellow up-and-coming hoops, piloting 46 across the last 12 months, with Bakos and Jones both under 10 winners behind Ross.

It was a career best season for Ross, who works for trainer Todd Austin, going well past her personal best of 22 victories way back in the 2017/18 campaign.

"Winning the premiership has been a goal of mine," Ross, whose son Beau turns two in September, said recently. 

"Now that I'm about to win both premierships (apprentices and overall jockeys) there's a sense of achievement.”