Champion jockey pushes Troy See towards Queensland stint

By Jordan Gerrans

When Singaporean jockey Troy See was searching for his next career move, he turned to one of his most trusted mentors - the great “Enforcer” Mick Dittman.

The now retired champion hoop instructed the ambitiouss rider to head to where he hails from, the Sunshine State.

See and Dittman worked for the same barn in Singapore – See as their stable jockey, with Dittman managing the operations.

The 33-year-old was frustrated with a lack of race riding opportunities in Singapore, so Dittman put See in touch with Gold Coast trainer Les Kelly.

“Mick told me he was a very good rider and he thought he would go very well over here in Australia,” Kelly relayed.

“He asked me to give him a go and we have gone from there.”

Once a leading apprentice jockey in Singapore, See was sold on the Sunshine State by the Rockhampton-born legend.

“Mick suggested I give Australia a shot as racing in Queensland was picking up, he said, with the government injecting more stakes money,” See said.

“I go to him a lot to talk about racing, he is obviously one of the most successful jockeys Australia has ever seen.

“I am very fortunate to have him mentoring me and representing me the whole way, I am very thankful for that. We have kept in touch since.”

See has hit the ground running in his new venture – riding three winners in the last month – all for the Kelly yard.

“I am young and hungry for more races,” See said.

“I was sick of riding two or three horses a week in Singapore at the one meeting.”

Since arriving in Australia, See has ridden work on the majority of mornings on the Gold Coast for Kelly and the trainer is hopeful he will remain for the foreseeable future.

See is set to return to Singapore at the end of this month for the birth of his second child and will then consider his long-term riding options.

“I will come back after my wife and the new baby are settled,” he said.

“It is too early to say if they will move over with me but I would like to see that I am getting good support here and am actually making a living for the family before I commit to staying here permanently.

“I will give it a shot for six months to a year and see how it goes from there.”

The light-weight hoop makes the trip north to Caloundra on Saturday afternoon for the transferred meeting from the Gold Coast.

He has a handful of bookings on the Polytrack – four of which are for the Kelly stable.

See knows the new surface well on the Sunshine Coast, riding a winner at the track on Wednesday afternoon.

While it was Mick Dittman who helped deliver See to Queensland, it is the legend rider's son who has made him feel welcome.

Dittman’s son Luke – also a jockey in the Queensland ranks – reached out to See when he arrived to determine if there is anything he could help with during the process.

“He is true gentleman,” See said of Luke.

“We get on good.”

This is See’s second stint in Australia, working in Tasmania for few months before COVID hit and he quickly returned to Singapore.

See has a pair of engagements at Beaudesert on Tuesday, as well.