Spotlight On: Angela Jones

By Brodie Nickson

Angela Jones has immediately transitioned herself from promising apprentice to reliable senior rider just 12 months after dominating the 2022/23 Queensland Metropolitan Apprentice Jockey Premiership.

She recorded 79 victories at an impressive 15.4 per cent strike-rate that season.

Fast forward 12 months and she stands as a genuine contender to star riders James Orman and Ryan Maloney for the 2024/25 Queensland Metropolitan Jockey Premiership.

A humble country girl, Jones’ entry into racing was a more patient journey than many.

“At boarding school I met a couple who had six racehorses. The lady coached the horse group and I got to see the racing side,” Jones said.

“That was sort of my ‘in’ and the first time I was able to see the races and actually realise it was possible to have a career in racing.”

A chance meeting with Shane Scriven was the first major step for Jones towards a potential career in the saddle.

“He [Shane Scriven] said Toowoomba would be a great place to start and I had a little bit of family there, so I moved down after I left school and started with Lindsay Hatch,” Jones said.

“[Hatch] pretty much took me on when I had very little experience in racing, but he was happy to take me on.

“I was very green and he showed me the ropes from the start.”

Jones spent some time at Bahram Stud, learning to ride trackwork alongside the pre-training team, before eventually moving to Hatch’s Toowoomba base.

“When I got my license (Hatch) sent me out to the non-TABs and I began riding at the bush tracks from Charleville, Charters Towers, Mount Isa and I did most of those sand tracks,” Jones said.

“It was a really good experience. I know a lot of bosses want to look after their apprentices and not teach them bad habits by riding out there, but I couldn’t actually recommend it more - going out to the non-TAB’s where no one’s watching.”

Jones pays huge homage to her bosses, crediting both Lindsay Hatch and Tony Gollan for forging her into the person and rider she is today, and thanking them for their invaluable education and meticulous planning towards her progress.

“Early into my apprenticeship I did a TAB meeting and rode one of Lindsay’s [horses]. I came out on its head, it threw its head and it wasn’t a good look,” Jones said.

“Straight after that he said, ‘no more TAB’s for you’ and I went out bush for months.

“He couldn’t actually see how I was going and I was riding a lot of winners.

“He left it for a few months and he finally put me on one at Gatton and it won, so I had been riding for eight or 10 months before I got that winner for my own boss.”

Like many new tasks, sheer hours in the saddle were critical for Jones’ early development and she credits the long hours in the country as crucial for her early development. 

“My first meeting back at a TAB meeting I was quite nervous despite riding for a while, but as soon as you have that one meeting and have a good experience it becomes quite normal,” she said.

“Then you get to the next level. I started my first provincial meeting at Toowoomba with Lindsay Hatch. He had a few favourites for me and that was a bit nerve wracking, but then it only took that first provincial meeting at Toowoomba where I rode a treble.

“Once you get the first one out of the way you are fine.”

Jones spent the next year riding across the provincial circuit, mainly at Toowoomba, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich and Gold Coast.

Following the same path laid before her as previous champion apprentice Baylee Nothdurft, Hatch organised for Jones to make the transition to champion Brisbane trainer Tony Gollan when she was ready to ride in town.

“That was such a really big help having that sort of path planned out for me even before I started riding at the provincials,” Jones said.

“It was always planned out for me, ‘you are going to have a good season at the provincials and tee you up to go to Tony Gollan in Brisbane’.

“It was good that that was always the plan because it was never too much of a shock and I was able to ease into it.

“I never really thought I would live in Brisbane and I was quite scared of the city from growing up.”

Jones began her transition to Brisbane six months before officially moving, riding trackwork for Gollan each Wednesday morning to allow her ‘a bit of experience and step into it easier’.

“When I finished my provincial claim Lindsay held me back, so when I started a new season I started at a new level, allowing me to target the apprentice premiership,” Jones said.

The transition to Brisbane was eye-opening for the humble country girl from Clermont, a three-hour drive west of Mackay.

“I think the transition was eye-opening because you don’t think about the media and social media interest when you sign up to be a bush apprentice,” Jones said.

“You don’t ever think it is going to get to that stage and the spotlight you get on you. I obviously love horses and this is what I want to do, you never look at that side of it and all of a sudden it’s there.

“For me it was okay, the first year of riding was covid so there was no crowds or anything and I spent so much time at the non-TABs I got to sort of ease into it.

“Another important part of the [move to Brisbane] was I kept busy. I think because you are so busy as an apprentice you hardly feel like you are living in Brisbane. You go from your house to the racetrack, pretty much do trackwork and go home.”

Fast forward and Jones closed off the 2023/24 season, her first as a senior rider, with a double at Doomben.

She still rides trackwork for her boss Tony Gollan every day and wouldn’t have it any other way.

“When I finished my apprenticeship I wanted to keep riding work for Tony every day and try keep everything the same as it was in my apprenticeship because that is the hardest part after your claim. I tried to ride as much work as I could so Tony could keep supporting me and it has been great,” she said.

“This past year, the first year out of my apprenticeship, has probably been a lot better than I could have imagined.

“You have to give a lot of credit to my bosses.

“Lindsay Hatch knew how to step jockeys up through the levels and Tony Gollan is so good at supporting an apprentice and so good at supporting them when they finish.

“You see a lot of trainers [and] once the claim’s gone you aren’t much use to them, but that’s when you need your bosses because when that claim’s gone that’s when it can be hardest.”

The 2023/24 season was a career best for Jones, building off her apprenticeship success with a host of Listed and Group winners.

Jones highlighted her season by booting home Zarastro for Gollan in the Group 3 Healy Stakes, before producing a brilliant ride aboard Mission Of Love in the Listed Caloundra Cup.

“I would have been happy with one piece of success in a Listed race or something, but to get a few features like the Ipswich Cup, Caloundra Cup and a couple of Listed races in between, I was so excited to keep building on that momentum,” Jones said.

“I achieved a lot more than I thought I would be able to during the carnival and it really stands out when you do it against interstate and New South Wales jockeys.

“I got great support from local trainers during the carnival which meant so much too.”