Doin’ it for the kids: 2024 Melbourne Cup jockey Craig Newitt’s hard graft

All parents would risk their lives for their kids but few it thousands of times a year to make a living. For Craig Newitt, it’s the least he can do for his five sons and his dedicated partner.

All parents would risk their lives for their kids.

Few do it thousands of times each year to make a living.

Craig Newitt and fellow jockeys earn more than the average parent but face constant risks as they steer 500kg thoroughbreds.

Newitt has to work especially hard, given he has five sons to support, aged between two and 15.

The jockey’s lot compels them to cover thousands of kilometres in the car every week, driving to far flung tracks, sometimes for one ride.

But Newitt said the hard graft led to his greatest pleasure.

“I work my ring out all year round to give them everything they want,” Newitt said.

“I get more enjoyment out of watching them enjoying life than what I do on the track.”

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Newitt said the “unbelievable” support from his fiancee, Breaana Smith, was the only reason he was able to put in the hours entailed in being an elite Australian jockey.

The couple met in their native Tasmania when Newitt was under enormous personal pressure, navigating the raising of four boys after splitting from his first wife.

Smith was an apprentice jockey herself before a painful fall eventually ended her riding career.

“She had one flip over on her in the mounting yard at Launceston one night and she did all the ligaments and tendons in her wrist and never quite came back from it,” Newitt said.

Newitt marvelled at how she gelled with his boys before the couple added another son to the troupe.

But Newitt and Smith faced a tough decision to leave Tasmania with the kids to give them more opportunities with the superior prizemoney on the mainland.

“She took the boys on like they were her own from day one, which was amazing,” Newitt said.

“We were living in Tassie when I met Brea and we were still coming back and forth a little bit because I was riding plenty of winners back home and looking after four kids.

“Having 100 per cent custody of four kids, I was still only just getting by.

“I had to make the decision with Brea and we packed up and came back over here.

“I figured it was easier to ride her and fly back for each meeting instead of living there and try to get rides here.”

Devonport Cup-winning jockey Craig Newitt hugs Wendy Smith, the mother of his fiancee Bree Smith, after his eighth win in the race. Picture: Jon Tuxworth

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Riding trackwork, in trials and races presents an almost daily grind for Newitt and his contemporaries but the jockey said the clan somehow made it all work.

After the carnival, the couple will plunge headlong into preparations for their January wedding.

“Brea does a hell of a lot of it,” Newitt said.

“I’m at the races most days and trackwork on Mondays and Tuesdays and another day if I get asked to go in.

“She’s got the little fella, he goes to daycare one day a week and the older ones go to school five days a week so it’s pretty full-on.”

Surprisingly for a jockey, Newitt’s sons are keen basketballers with his oldest son Noah, 15, already impressing with his talents, playing against grown men since he was 13.

“We’ve got basketball on Monday, Tuesdays, Thursday and Saturdays as well,” Newitt said.

“He’s pretty good.

“He was playing under-23 men’s when he was 13.

“They stopped him playing because he was too young and he’s won one MVP and second in another three MVPs in the league he plays in.”

Their basketball prowess also gives Newitt the chance to enjoy himself watching his boys doing what they love.

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Newitt endured the shock of the sudden death of his own father Guy in a car accident in 2009, which taught him the value of time with loved ones.

“The kids are very resilient. They’ve done an enormous job,” Newitt said.

“You’re only around for so long and it’s only going to be a few more years and Noah, he’ll be moved out and gone.

“You’ve got to enjoy it while you can.”

The noise level at the usually rowdy Newitt household could go to a new level if the lightweight jockey can produce a Melbourne Cup upset for master trainer Chris Waller.

Newitt will ride $51 chance Valiant King, a stayer managing owner Ozzie Kheir described as his Melbourne Cup roughie to follow earlier in the spring.

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Valiant King ran well in the Turnbull Stakes two runs back but didn’t have a great deal of luck when midfield in the Caulfield Cup.

“I had my first ride in 2000 so I’ve been around a long time,” Newitt said.

“It’s the race everyone wants to try to win.

“I’ve had a few cracks at it but I’ve never really had a genuine prospect that’s in the market. But you’ve got to be in it to win it.

“The bloke I’ll go around on this year, he’ll be triple figures but he’ll run the trip.

“He’s been set for the race, and out of that (Waller) barn, if they’ve been set for the race, it’s half of your issues gone.”

Irrespective of Valiant King’s odds, Newitt will have a large fan club to welcome him home after the Melbourne Cup.

Originally published as Doin’ it for the kids: 2024 Melbourne Cup jockey Craig Newitt’s hard graft