Two old mates reunited: injured jockey Tye Angland catches up with Trapeze Artist

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when wheelchair-bound jockey Tye Angland met an old 600kg friend.

Trapeze Artist touches Angland with his hoof, lowers his head and closes his eyes as he recognises his old mate. Picture: Sharon Lee Chapman

The bond between man and beast should never be underestimated.

In the Sport of Kings, and Queens, men and women wage battle with each other and with steads — some mighty, some with quirks and others with a heart as big as a pea.

The horsemen and women are capable of getting a horse to change lead leg in a heartbeat, get their mount into a smooth rhythm and in a breathing pattern that optimises performance. They are generally at one with the animal.

The public see the prowess on race day, the affinity apparent from the moment the jockey swings their leg over and gives the horse a rub between the ears and a pat down the neck. In many cases, the connection may have been built over several months, with the jockey having played a key role in the education and training of the horse.

But the latter need not be iron-clad. Tye Angland only rode Trapeze Artist in six of his 20 starts, yet they clicked from the get-go. Their union commenced midway through the colt’s career.

Trapeze Artist lowers his head to say hello to his former jockey and friend Tye Angland at the Widden Stud Stallion Parade. Angland rode the stallion to some of his greatest victories Trapeze Artist recognised him instantly. Picture: Sharon Lee Chapman

Trapeze Artist was a $91 outsider in the $1 million Golden Rose two years ago. Angland had won the Australian Oaks on Gust of Wind in 2015 but he arrived as a Group I jockey with the poise he was able to display on the flying Trapeze to win that race.

They would combine for three Group 1 triumphs together — the others being the TJ Smith and the All-Aged Stakes at Randwick in the autumn of 2018.

Horse and jockey are now retired for very different reasons.

Trapeze Artist underwent a change of focus, having just commenced his first season of stud duties. He is fast learning to cope with finishing behind a band of valuable broodmares that may produce his Group 1-winning sons and daughters.

Angland’s career was cut short by a race fall in Hong Kong last November. The love and admiration for the young husband and father rendered a quadriplegic has never been greater among his family, peers from the jockeys’ room and those that won some coin backing his mounts.

Late last week, Angland visited Widden Stud to see his old mate. What resulted would bring a tear to a glass eye, the pictures testament to a bond between man and beast that won’t be beaten.

The 600kg stallion lowered his head gently into the Angland’s lap and reached out with his foreleg.

“Trapeze knew him instantly,” Widden said in tweet of several images from the meeting.

Angland’s wife, Erin, took to social media with just four words that said so much: “Incredible animal. Incredible human.’’

Angland told The Daily Telegraph: “To be able to spend that special moment with Trapeze Artist and for Sharon (Chapman, photographer) to capture such a beautiful photo was definitely touching.”