Jett Stanley out to make late grandad proud with Stradbroke Handicap victory

Victorian jockey Jett Stanley says it will be a special moment if he can honour his late grandfather by winning his first Group 1 in the Stradbroke Handicap.

Jett Stanley is hoping The Instructor gets a start in the Stradbroke Handicap. Picture: Getty Images

Jett Stanley reckons his late grandfather Jimmy will be smiling up in heaven if the Victorian jockey can win the Stradbroke Handicap.

Stanley, 21, will fly up to Brisbane on Monday night in the hope that The Instructor can make the field for the $3m Stradbroke (1400m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained gelding is currently No.29 in the ballot but has a slim chance of making the field given the attrition rate, with star horses such as Joliestar and Giga Kick to skip Queensland’s most prestigious race.

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Stanley has only ridden in one Group 1 race, last year’s The Metropolitan (2400m) at Randwick in October when he finished 14th on Immediacy, more than 10 lengths behind the winner Land Legend.

“It’s what every jockey dreams about,” he said on Monday about potentially winning his first major.

“I’ve always wanted to win a Group 1, ever since I was a five-year-old kid and to be able to do it in the Stradbroke would be an unreal feeling.

“My late grandfather Jimmy always wanted me to win a Group 1 but he felt it had to be the Stradbroke.

“I don’t know why, he never really told us, but to possibly have the opportunity is a great thrill in itself, especially for great trainers like Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.

“Jimmy was a jockey around the Gundagai area and won metro races in Sydney.

“He’d be up there in heaven cheering me on and everyone in my family will be watching, we’re a massive racing family.”

Stanley winning aboard The Instructor in the Hareeba Stakes at Mornington. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

Stanley’s father Brent saluted in the 1996 Caulfield Cup as a teen jockey on Arctic Scent and won the race as a trainer, while Jett’s mother Paris’s dad Terry Millard was also a trainer.

The young hoop, who started his career in Perth under trainers Grant and Alana Williams, remembers getting paid 50 cents for cleaning out a stable during school holidays at age eight.

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Stanley ended his apprenticeship in April when he rode The Instructor to victory in the Listed Hareeba Stakes (1200m) at Mornington.

He was aboard the gelding for his third placing in the Wagga Town Plate early last month before Adam Hyeronimus steered the galloper to victory in his last start, the Listed Luskin Star Stakes at Scone on May 17.

“Quietly, I do give him a sneaky chance,” Stanley said if The Instructor happens to land a run in the Stradbroke.

“He tries his heart out for me, no matter what race he’s in and I can’t be happier with all the reports that I’m getting from Queensland.”

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Bott has his fingers crossed that his rising star The Instructor can sneak into the Stradbroke field, adamant the four-year-old is in “career-best form”.

“He’ll get a nice light weight (52kg) and he’s in the right time of his career to take advantage of it,” Bott said.

“He’s deep into the prep and he’s holding up with career-best form.

“Coming up to a high-pressure handicap where he’s got a light weight, I think that would suit really well.

“That trip (1400m) is probably right in his sweet spot where he can be most effective.”

Originally published as Jett Stanley out to make late grandad proud with Stradbroke Handicap victory