Jockey Harry Coffey, who has cystic fibrosis, set to welcome first child

As Harry Coffey prepares to welcome his first child, he is urging people to support the hospital that helped him through his own childhood with cystic fibrosis.

AS Harry Coffey excitedly prepares to welcome his first child into the world, he reflects on how “scary” his own first years of life were for his parents.

The Group 1-winning jockey was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at six weeks old, resulting in the Royal Children’s Hospital becoming a second home for him, his horse trainer dad, Austy, and mum, Maree.

“It would have been a pretty scary time for my parents,” Coffey told the Herald Sun from his property near Swan Hill.

“But luckily, we were at the Royal Children’s getting the best care possible.”

The 27-year-old recalled spending “a lot of time in there” in his teens, being admitted “three to four times a year for 10 days” during school holidays for “tune ups”, and having appointments every few months in between.

Harry Coffey in action, wining the Entry Education Abell Stakes aboard She’s All Class at Moonee Valley Racecourse. Picture: Brett Holburt/Racing Photos via Getty Images

“When I turned 18 and headed to the Alfred (Hospital), it was a little bit sad in a way because you get to know all the doctors and nurses,” he said.

“They look after you with such care.”

Almost a decade on, the arrival of a cystic fibrosis medication that improves lung function, Trikafta, has meant Coffey’s hospital visits are rarer and his quality of life is much better.

This will make a world of difference when Coffey and his wife, Tayla, have their baby boy in May.

“I’m excited,” he said. “It’s coming quickly.”

Coffey’s Group 1 win – at the 2018 Australasian Oaks in Adelaide aboard Sopressa – remarkably came before Trikafta, when he was “taking tablets all day and doing physiotherapy every day”.

He has since ridden in the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups, and last year, notched 100 wins in a season for the first time.

Harry Coffey at age 19, when he was apprenticed to his father, Austy Coffey. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Coffey is set to ride strong contender Steinem in the $3m Group 1 Australian Cup on Saturday at Flemington – where, appropriately, racegoers can support the RCH by donating to the Good Friday Appeal via collection tins across the course and a raffle offering $10,000 in prizes.

“Hopefully heaps of people can get out to Flemington, (see) some great racing, (and) if they win big on a horse, put half towards the Good Friday Appeal,” he said.

“I always keep a keen interest in the appeal. Looking back, I’m even more grateful about how generous people are.”

Australian Cup Day is the final event of the Victoria Racing Club’s 2023 Flemington Racing Spectacular and will also feature the Roy Higgins Quality – the winner of which will earn a guaranteed place in the 2023 Melbourne Cup.

Donate to the Good Friday Appeal at goodfridayappeal.com.au