Former jockey Jackson Morris ditches ice cream diet to take up training

Jackson Morris tried all sorts of diets before deciding to eat nothing but ice cream saw him slim down. But none of that is required now he is a trainer.

Former jockey Jackson Morris trained his first winner at Ipswich with Justin Huxtable in the saddle. Picture: Grant Peters/Trackside Photography

Jackson Morris once turned to an ice cream diet to lose 16kg in less than a month as a jockey, but laughs no such fads are required in his new profession as a trainer.

The larrikin jockey has recently taken up training and enjoyed his first winner at Ipswich last week, where King Dick saluted to land the prize.

Morris reached 72kg during a stint out of racing, but remarkably shed the kilos eating nothing but ice cream following a bet with former rugby league player Chris Johns.

Pressed on how the diet worked, Morris has a simple answer.

“Try it,” he said.

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“People laugh thinking I’m joking, all I say to them is try it.”

As a journeyman jockey, Morris wasn’t short on trials and tribulations in the saddle, but says he has a new found respect for trainers after his foray into it himself.

Throughout his career, it has been Morris’ love of racing that keeps him in the game.

“The biggest thing for me is, I can see why during my career when trainers told you how to ride a certain horse and you do something a bit different, I can see why they blow up,” he laughed.

Jackson Morris had his fair share of success in the saddle. Picture: Greg Irvine/Magic Millions

“Trainers do it hard. I’m on the other side of the fence now and it’s hard.

“I’m lucky I had Justin Huxtable riding that horse at Ipswich for me, I think he’s one of the best in Queensland and he can just lift horses so well.”

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While it was only a Benchmark 55 at Ipswich, Morris said King Dick’s win was the sweetest of his career.

“It was way better than any win I have had in the saddle, if you look at the footage, when that horse was going past, I was down on the fence deadset chasing him home,” he said.

“I’m all the way out at Burpengary at the moment, I took them to Ipswich once for a gallop but it is too far away, so I have to get them fit through racing.

“It’s a different method of training and it makes it hard but we can’t all just train in town straight away.”

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While he will continue to ride the occasional one of his horses, Morris said he is enjoying not having to worry about his weight daily.

“I rode the horse at Esk and got beat, that bloke rides it and it comes out and wins by three at Ipswich, it’s probably time I hung up the boots,” he laughed.

“I like being a bit more hands on with it all, I don’t mind the fact that I don’t have to sweat before I go to the races.”

Originally published as Former jockey Jackson Morris ditches ice cream diet to take up training