Jockey Peter Bradford does late grandfather proud

By Jordan Gerrans

Peter Bradford’s late grandfather did not follow the horses much in his life but he was there every step of the way for his grandson’s fledgling riding career.

The 26-year-old Toowoomba apprentice hoop has had a few stints as a rookie hoop, first riding in races back in 2015 before weight got the best of him and he was relegated to riding just at the track every morning.

One morning, Bradford decided to give it another crack as a race jockey, making his comeback earlier this year before grabbing his first ever winner on Saturday at Roma at his 25^th career effort.

It had been a stressful and traumatic lead-in to his maiden triumph as a jockey over the last month, losing his grandfather - Noel Brumpton – and having his funeral in the days before the Roma non-TAB meeting.

In his own words, Bradford was lucky to even get to the races at Roma, he had such a “blow out” following the funeral that he doubted if he was in the mental state or riding weight to make it.

Brumpton was never a big racing man but he certainly would have been proud to see Bradford break through for his maiden triumph just days after his passing.

“I had a real blow out and I did not think I would make the weight for the races but my partner stuck by me and helped me out, sat with me while I was in the sauna to get the weight off,” Bradford said.

“I got the weight down and I was pretty wrecked after it.

“I was a mess from wasting and then when it won, it was the biggest relief in the world, I felt so happy after going through so much over the last couple of weeks.

“On top of that, what I have gone through over the years, everything, it just felt like a massive weight off my back.

“It was just a relief to get my first win.”

He did it on a gelding named Phionaix for St. George horseman Pat Webster at Roma on Saturday in a Benchmark 65 Handicap over 1000 metres.

Bradford thanked Webster for sticking with him and giving him race rides despite not yet winning a race before this month.  

After a long morning at the track where Bradford might ride 20 gallopers around Clifford Park, he would usually head into his day job, working for Brumpton.

“Him and I were very close, he ran a business around trucks and I helped him out, I work all day long at his business after the horses in the morning,” he recalled.

“He always followed me in my travels with my riding, we were very close.

“He would have been stoked if he was there to see me ride the winner.”

The heavyweight hoop might just be one of the hardest track work riders on the Darling Downs, working for his boss Rochelle Pereira, before helping out Kevin Kemp and Tom Dougall, among other trainers at Toowoomba.

The Pereira stable has been a big influence on Bradford’s career, sticking by him through his weight issues and supporting him in his decision to get back into race riding .

Bradford has always battled with his weight – only riding around 59kgs these days – but believes he has found a better way to manage his diet, fitness and weight loss in his second stint as an apprentice.

“I was killing myself back then, I was young and stupid and doing everything the wrong way,” Bradford reflected on his first stint as a race rider.

“I was a typical teenager and did not want to listen to anyone.

“It got the better of me back then so I had a break from racing riding, but continued to ride track work.

“I woke up one morning and I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, be a proper jockey.

“I am a lot more mature now and know what I can do, I can follow a plan as in eating and training and limiting drinking.”

With the monkey off his back now, Bradford is hopeful more opportunities will come with trainers regularly asking him if he had ridden his first winner before they would book him.

While he still claims four kilograms, Bradford feels as though he rides like a senior jockey, having ridden work for more than a decade.

He heads to Dalby this Saturday, Toowoomba for Melbourne Cup non-TAB races on Tuesday before heading to Chinchilla the following Saturday hoping to add to his one career victory.