Spotlight On: Blake Spriggs

Photos by Darren Winningham and Michael McInally

By Brodie Nickson

Group 1-winning rider Blake Spriggs has added another layer of depth to the South-East Queensland jockey ranks after the former New South Wales-based hoop made the move north.

The Brisbane jockey room has continued to strengthen in the past couple of years with interstate additions Damien Thornton, Ben Thompson and Robbie Dolan mixing it in with a host of gun apprentices and the state’s leading riders, Ryan Maloney and James Orman.

Former New South Wales-based jockey Spriggs also recently made his move north of the border when the 31-year-old, who was closely aligned with Waratah Thoroughbreds, felt the time was right.

“(Moving to Brisbane) was something that I had thought about for a little while,” Spriggs said.

“I had had a few looks at Brisbane in the carnival and over previous years.

“I rode for the Snowdens in the Stradbroke Handicap a few years back and at the time Tony Gollan asked me to stay for a few extra weeks and ride for him. I did enjoy myself, but I did have some commitments still at the time in Sydney where I was riding for Waratah (Thoroughbreds).”

Leviathan owner Paul Fudge recently sold his state-of-the-art Bong Bong Farm, home to his Waratah Thoroughbreds organisation, as part of a downsize to his racing operation.

“He had somewhere between 60-100 horses at the time, so it would have been too difficult to make the move to Queensland,” Spriggs said.

Spriggs, alongside his partner Kasey and son Brooklyn, decided the time was right this year to pack their bags and make the move.

“I spoke to Robert Heathcote, Tony Gollan, as well as a few others, and they were quite keen that I come up and give it a try. It has been a good start,” he said.

Yet to commit himself to one stable in particular, Spriggs and his family have based themselves on the south side of the Brisbane River, a short trip to the bustling Eagle Farm training facilities.

“Most of my success at the moment has been with Heathcote, but I haven’t set myself with any stable in particular. Basically, whoever has been offering the rides is who I have been doing most of the work for,” Spriggs said.

“I would love to open a few more doors if I could, but obviously the riding ranks here are very strong. I am not expecting it to be easy but hoping we can find some success in the coming months.”

Spriggs hadn’t committed to any major carnival rides during the Queensland Summer Carnival, but plans on travelling to the other main training facilities in South-East Queensland, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, in the hope of building more connections.

“I think for me there was a lot of unknowns coming up here; I didn’t really know what to expect. I just want to take it one week at a time, but I also like to create good networks of trainers and owners,” Spriggs said

“For me it is getting a good base of connections and producing good results.”

Such is the commitment Spriggs shares with his loyal connections, he recently made the 1000km journey from Brisbane to Kembla Grange for one ride.

Spriggs made the trip to reunite with promising speedster Headwall at Kembla Grange’s sole standalone Saturday metropolitan meeting, an opportunity he was never going to pass up.

Already extremely close with connections, the race meant a whole lot more after Marie, a part-owner in Headwall, recently passed away after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) a few years ago.

“I have ridden for the owners for about 10 years and, I think, there has been about eight winners out of the family I have won on,” Spriggs said.

“They bred them all and raced them all, so we have grown to be very close. They are not only owners that are supportive while their horses are racing, but they are also the first owners to call when I have had an injury to check up on me.”

Although beaten on the heavy track, Spriggs isn’t shy about his tremendous belief in the horse and is hoping a potential trip north could unlock the four-year-old’s black-type ability.

“He is a very smart horse. He wasn’t suited on the heavy track at Kembla Grange and it was solely due to his ability that he ran third,” Spriggs said.

“He did win his Maiden on heavy ground at Newcastle, but my thoughts straight after the race on tape were he didn’t handle the ground at all and he was just too good for them.

“He is a very good horse with a lot of improvement in him. I hope this is the preparation he can put it all together, but we just have to be patient with him. He will get there one day.”

It has been seven years since Spriggs recorded his career highlight, winning the 2016 Metropolitan Handicap for Paul Fudge with Sir John Hawkwood.

After finishing runner-up in the Group 3 Kingston Town at Rosehill Gardens, Spriggs went one better aboard the Sir Percy gelding in the Metropolitan, beating Antonio Giuseppe by a length.

He described the moment as the “best day in his life” and a career highlight only mirrored by booting home five winners as an apprentice at Rosehill in 2010.

For many young jockeys, the key is mentoring and having a good team around them and, for Spriggs, he had no shortage of support from an early age.

Spriggs speaks highly of his former manager and mentor, Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Wayne Harris, as well as his father Dale, a successful jockey himself.

“I don’t remember it, but Mum said when I was about four-years-old I went to the old Bega track and sat on an old racehorse in the tie-up stalls and from that day on I wanted to be a jockey,” Spriggs said.

“I was quite good at sport going through school, but I never really deviated away from wanting to be a jockey.

“Dad had a few bad falls so he and Mum had seen the worst part of racing and kind of tried to push me into another direction, which I can really understand now having a young one myself.

“I got to about eight-years-old when I used to travel up to Moree, where my grandfather had a farm, and I began to ride the ponies and learn how to ride.

“I was lucky enough to go to those things with a trainer by the name of Peter Sinclair, who was quite close with the family, and his family taught me a lot before I was ready to ride trackwork at 15.”

A natural light-weight rider, Spriggs has thrived after having his first genuine break from racing and is taking it day-by-day in his pursuit to establish himself in the sunshine state.

“I actually had about six to eight weeks off before I moved up here and, other than injuries, I had never really had a decent break since I was 16. That’s 15 years of basically hard work and long hours,” he said.

“I felt like I needed a break and to be fresh if I was going to make a move like I have.

“My plan was to come up, ride a bit of trackwork and work into it over a couple of weeks but Rob Heathcote was straight over it and said ‘no, I want you now’.

“I snuck up to the 57kg and 58kg mark, but I have got that down and will start to take 53kg and 52kg rides in the next few weeks.”

Such is the change of conditions and humidity compared to Sydney, Spriggs has even done away with his sweat gear at trackwork.

“It has taken me a bit of time to get used to how hot and humid it is so early in the morning. The first few times I rode work I brought my sweat gear but that disappeared pretty quickly because it was a lot hotter than I was used to.”