Cairns Cup: Rough ride is over for comeback kid Morrison
If you ever had to understand what makes Lacey Morrison such a strong, dependable jockey, look no further than Cairns Cup Ladies Day.
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If you ever had to understand what makes Lacey Morrison such a strong, dependable jockey, look no further than Cairns Cup Ladies Day.
Morrison suffered a fall on Old School in Race 1 at Cannon Park on Saturday, but she not only managed to walk away, she returned to the saddle and rode Rustic Rocker to a win in the second race on the card.
It happened within 40 minutes of each other, but it perfectly encapsulates the never-say-die, can’t-be-held-back attitude of one of the strongest women in racing.
Morrison has overcome serious injuries suffered in significant falls not once, but twice – in 2008 and 2013 – and left race riding behind for eight years.
But, earlier this year, she returned to the saddle – which seemed unthinkable just a few years ago as she recovered from head and brain injuries.
She hasn’t lost a step.
Once a talented and successful jockey in her younger riding days, Morrison picked up where she left off all those years ago.
Riding primarily for Sharlee D’Avila, Morrison has ridden plenty of winners since her return and has been among the more consistent jockeys in Far North Queensland.
And she could not be more excited to be back.
“I couldn’t be happier with my return to racing,” Morrison said.
“It’s taken me quite a while to adjust. Not so much to get race fit, but the timing and things like that.
“I wasn’t nervous or anything like that, I just felt really happy and excited to be back.
“I never thought I’d be back race riding again. To have the support of my family, and my partner, I was thrilled to be back.
“I had to blow the cobwebs out a bit … but I wanted to be a jockey.”
Morrison’s motivation to get back into racing was purely to fund her studies, and despite the abnormal hours it works out perfectly.
She rises early to work at the track, and is back in time to take her son to school, and can squeeze in study around the busy schedule.
“The decision to go back was purely financial as I was working three jobs to live and be an adult uni student,” Morrison said.
“That was the reason, to have the financial stability to get home and study.
“But I did a lot of things in the time away from racing.
“I worked in aged care, had a child, rode trackwork quite a bit – which I’ve done since 2015.
“I’ve had quite a diverse range of employment, but it was purely a financial decision to go back to racing.
“I do love it, but it’s a stepping stone. (Nursing) is the long-term goal.
“I was quick to learn uni is quite different to TAFE-level.
“I left school at a young age to do an apprenticeship, so it is a little bit of a struggle but I’m keen to get there.
“If it takes me six years, it takes me six years.”
Morrison will ride Maquerau for D’Avila in the Cairns Cup, who she has ridden to two wins at Cairns Jockey Club – her only two starts on the seven-year-old gelding.
Morrison has combined well with D’Avila, who has previously spoken glowingly of Morrison, and they will do so again in the biggest race of the Cannon Park calendar.
“I’ve had a lot to do with that horse since he’s joined her stable,” Morrison said.
“I have a good affiliation with the horse. He will be a good cups horse next year, but it might be a big ask this year.
“I have so much respect for Sharlee, she is a really great trainer.
“Her and I really click, she works her horses a certain way, I ride a certain way – great minds think alike.”
Top jockey eyes off Cups double with Fortification
Sticking with in-form stayer Fortification was an easy decision for Scott Sheargold, as the Townsville hoop chases a pair of back-to-back triumphs in this Saturday’s Cairns Cup.
After saluting in the Townsville Cup on the Jeffrey Caught-trained gelding earlier this month, Sheargold has opted to stay on Fortification for a tilt at the $150,000 Cairns Cup.
The champion jockey will not only be shooting for the Townsville and Cairns Cup double – a feat most recently completed by veteran hoop Robert Thompson on the Stephen Massingham-trained The Harrovian in 2019 – but will also be hoping to claim back-to-back Cairns Cups, after piloting the Alex Malliff-trained Paniagua to the big prize in the 2020 edition of the race.
Sheargold (above) said the decision to stay aboard the 2021 Townsville Cup winner was an easy one.
“I’ve ridden him every start that he’s had in North Queensland for Jeff,” Sheargold said.
“He’s been very loyal to me, so it’s only right that I pay back the loyalty, and the loyalty was repaid the other day in the Townsville Cup.
“If he gets the same sort of run as he did that particular day in the Cairns Cup, he’ll be very, very hard to beat.”
Since arriving at Caught’s Townsville stables from Gold Coast father-and-son training duo Bryan and Daniel Guy late last year, Fortification has had eight starts – all at Townsville’s Cluden Park – for four wins, two seconds and a third, missing the placings on one occasion.
Sheargold rode the six-year-old gelding to a heart-stopping win in the Townsville Cup, edging out Bering Sea for Chris Attard and Play Me Now for Stephen Potiris in a blanket finish to the 2000m feature.
He said the narrow win was typical of him and the horse, but he was confident Fortification had more improvement in him.
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“It was his first time over the distance but he had been set for this sort of campaign for a while, so I can’t see why he won’t improve,” Sheargold said.
“It would be very nice to go back-to-back in the Cairns Cup and would be good to go back-to-back with Fortification.”
One of his rivals on the day will be the Janel Ryan-trained Tutelage, which Sheargold guided to victory in the Banana Cup (1800m) at Innisfail Turf Club two weeks ago.
“It was a good effort on a wet track,” he said.
“That was my first ride on that particular horse. He’s obviously going to be going up in grade, but down in weight.
“Fortification’s proven he can go with the better stayers up here. I think Tutelage will be better next year but he’s a lightweight chance in the race.”
Of the first 10 horses past the post in the Townsville Cup, only one will not be making the trip up to Cairns this weekend – Hail Manhattan for Peter and Will Hulbert, which finished fifth.
Originally published as Cairns Cup: Rough ride is over for comeback kid Morrison
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