Irish Robbie ventures to Cairns

By Jordan Gerrans

Group-winning jockey Robbie Downey did not even know there was a racetrack in Cairns before he went on a holiday to the city when he first arrived in Australia. 

A few years on, the 28-year-old hoop will use Far North Queensland’s Cannon Park to relaunch his riding career after taking a step back in recent months to stabilise his weight.

Based in Sydney, Downey will make the long trip north to Cairns for the big 10 event card for Saturday, which is headlined by a QTIS Jewel qualifier for two-year-olds.

The Irishman will link up with the father-and-son training team of Trevor and Peter Rowe across Saturday’s program.

“With the number of rides the stable was giving me, I was keen to get up there as Trevor and Peter are good people to ride for,” the hoop said.

Downey has ridden at Cairns’ Cannon Park on a couple of occasions earlier in his career and collected a winner aboard Rideau during the Cairns Amateurs carnival of 2023.

While jockeys flying north from South East Queensland to compete at Cairns or Townsville is commonplace – it is rare for a hoop to do so from Sydney, outside of the carnival period of the year.

Downey is keen to re-establish himself within the New South Wales riding ranks and feels a big book of rides at Cairns this Saturday will help get his eye in.

The Ireland-born hoop has been working overtime on his weight in recent weeks to push his chances of picking up more quality rides.

“I was really heavy there for a while and my weight was not going well so I took about six weeks off and I was really working on it,” he said.

“I will be riding 55kgs this Saturday. I have been basically training twice a day for the last four to six weeks and it is coming off great.

“I decided to take a step back and get it down as light as I can so I can go to the races happy and healthy. I still love it here in Australia, it is a great place.”

Downey rode in his native Europe as well as India – where he competed and won black-type races - and Bahrain before relocating to Australia three years ago.

He initially set up camp in Melbourne before relocating north to Sydney.

He has mainly ridden on the provincial circuit around Sydney in recent times. 

As most are, the well-travelled jockey was keen to explore FNQ when he first arrived in Australia and that is how he struck up his connection with the Rowes and other trainers in the area.

“It is a beautiful place up there and I was on holiday up there a couple of years ago because I wanted to see the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest,” he said.

“I didn’t even know there was a racecourse there until I Googled it one morning and I decided to go for a jog there as it was not far from where I was staying.

“I ended up meeting a few trainers and talking to them – I ended up getting a few rides for the carnival.

“It was a great experience; I rode a winner on the big meeting and I went up the next year again for the carnival.

“I thought it was a brilliant weekend of racing and Cairns is just a great place to be, a great destination.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, Downey has eight bookings for Saturday’s races, all of which are for the Rowes.

Co-trainer Peter said the stable were appreciative how Downey jumped at the chance to head up north on short notice.

“We are really looking forward to having a rider of Robbie’s quality come up north to Cairns to ride our team of horses on Saturday,” Peter said.

“He rode for us at the Amateurs carnival back in 2023 so he knows the track well and we are glad to have him back in FNQ.

“We have a number of good chances for Saturday’s meeting that Robbie will ride.”

Cairns Jockey Club was set to host a meeting on Monday but following heavy rain in the region in recent weeks, the program was shifted to Saturday.