Dale Smith more than comfortable in his own skin

By Jordan Gerrans

Growing up as a fair-skinned Indigenous man in the Kimberley region of Western Australia taught jockey Dale Smith resilience that has carried him through his career in the racing industry.

The 43-year-old is a proud Nyigina man who has settled on the Sunshine Coast after riding throughout WA and Victoria earlier in his life.

Smith’s Aboriginality comes from his grandmother Carmel Moore.

He is actively passing on his culture onto the next generation with his daughter Aleahra taking part in welcome to country ceremonies at her school while also researching extensively about the family’s Indigenous heritage.

Smith has triumphed in 19 black-type races, as well as being placed at Group 1-level on multiple occasions, across his decades in the sport.

He has won feature races at some of the biggest tracks in Australia.

But, Smith grew up in a community that was a world away from Eagle Farm or Flemington.

The well-travelled jockey faced discrimination as a young person in Derby but reflecting on those days, he says it was a learning experience that taught him about resiliency.

“A couple my cousins are quite fair-skinned and the majority are quite a lot darker than us,” Smith said.

“When we were at school, it was pretty much spot the white kid, there was more Aboriginal kids than white.

“A lot of people knew we had Aboriginal heritage in our blood but we got picked on because we were white and people would point that out.

“I know I am very proud of my Indigenous heritage but when we were growing up, it was hard because people would basically say to us that we were lying because of our skin.

“We learnt to become resilient over it and move forward – we became better people for it.”

Having lived and worked in Victoria and Queensland for the majority of his career as a jockey, Smith has not been able to get back to his family’s country in remote Western Australia as much as he would have liked to in recent years.

He returned alongside his daughter late last year following his beloved grandmother's passing and said it was an important trip to get back in touch with his home and land.

“As we got older as children, my uncles and aunties taught me how to appreciate the land and the basics of fishing and crabbing, all that kind of stuff,” Smith said.

“My uncles and aunties knew all the elders in the communities around our area.

“It was a great time in my life and I was really pleased to grow up in that environment.

“I am always trying to find out more about our mob and dig deeper into it all.”

Smith’s father Barry was a jockey, before his death following a battle with cancer, while his grandfather also held a trainers licence.

The now Caloundra-based Smith worked for leading trainer Neville Parnham in his early days in WA before linking up with Mick Price in Victoria, who he classes as a close mentor.

The Price and Smith team were a prolific combination over the years, partnering for almost 300 winners.

Riding in Victoria was where Smith was able to rub shoulders with the late champion Indigenous jockey Darby McCarthy.

Back in 2015 at a Geelong midweek meeting, Smith scored aboard Howdee in a 1000 metre race named after McCarthy who was there to present him with the trophy.

Trailblazing jockey McCarthy hailed from Cunnamulla in regional Queensland and passed away in 2020.

For Smith, meeting the revered hoop on that day at Geelong was a profound moment in his life.

“I did not realize he was there at the races that day until he presented me the trophy,” Smith said.

“To actually meet him, I was pretty much in awe, to say the least.

“At that stage, I was at a bit of a cross roads where I wanted to go in my career and I knew there was more out there than racing.

“But, sitting down with Darby and him setting things in place in my mind and through a few strategies.

"He was able to recorrect me on the path I needed to be on and stop me from going down a bad path that I didn’t want to go down.”

Following on from McCarthy's guidance, Smith is determined to make a change in the Kimberley region where he grew up.

He was a founding member and is a director of Third Space Indigenous Corporation.

Third Space is a 100 per cent Indigenous managed, not-for-profit information technology, communications and recruitment company.

The company works to find employment opportunities for Indigenous people and is run by Smith and several of his family members.

After a successful implementation of their methods in regional Western Australia, the Third Space team have floated expanding to the other side of the country.

“The strategies are working – we are getting more Indigenous young people and young adults into the work force,” Smith said.

“It is about giving them a go and helping our own culture and our own mob.

“When you see this going back into the community, you appreciate it as there was a time there in the Kimberleys when the crime rate was high.

“Hopefully we can help get the young kids off the street and focus on their schooling and then obviously jobs.

“It gives you hope.

“The company has got a lot bigger now and we would like to get an eastern states presence over here.”

Smith is proud of his daughter Aleahra’s enthusiasm to learn more about their culture as well as showing leadership at her school.

He has also held a dual-licence in recent years and trained a winner at Ipswich in April.

Smith has a big few days in the saddle coming up, heading to Ipswich on Saturday before taking rides at Warwick on Monday.