Ivo Strikes Gold with Winning Run

Comeback jockey Ivo Fry showed he’d lost none of his old touch with a dashing winning double at Cluden Park on Friday.

The popular hoop’s wins aboard Burraneer Boy for Graham Hughes and roughie Brave Intent for Ron and Janel Ryan capped a huge week after landing a winning double at Bowen on Tuesday.

The Cluden wins were the 47-year-old’s first at Cluden since walking away from the game almost eight years ago after a brief comeback in 2015.

“This week’s been good, four TAB winners is a great result for me. Dare I say I’ve had relatively good rides for the week though,” Fry said.

“I’m riding for Tommy Button and landed two for him on Tuesday and I had a couple of really good rides today.

“It’s a bit different when you’ve got the horses underneath you.

“But it’s taken a lot of hard work, riding trackwork every day and just putting yourself into a position to win races.

“My fitness is good and my weight is absolutely super. I’m walking around at 53.5kg. I don’t drink anymore and I eat healthy food and jog most days.

“My timing has taken a little while. It’s getting there but getting better pretty quickly now because I’m getting rides on better horses that are able to put themselves into the races.”

It’s been a steady build-up for Fry who initially retired and headed to the mines in 2015 after his number one backer at the time Steve O’Dea shifted to Brisbane and went on to great success.

With the birth of his two daughters at around the same time, Fry was at a career crossroads but decided to take up an offer to work in the mining industry to support his young family.

“You could say I’d only ridden for about 15 months in the past 17 years or so,” Fry said.

“Basically when Steve shifted I was here without a big stable behind me and my wife Amber and I considered our options and whether I went mining because I had an opportunity to go out there,” Fry said

“So it was a toss-up at the time and I’m glad that I did it because it set us up financially for life.

“It’s allowed me to come back riding without any pressure whatsoever. I suppose without that pressure the success can come a bit easier.

“I’m not busting my hump and worrying about where my next feed is coming from.

“Mining was a really good thing for me and I’m forever grateful for the opportunities my family got from it.

“I got made redundant a couple of months ago and that allowed me to focus full time on racing.

“It was a godsend. Everything just lined up and I think life is all about timing.”

But the motivation for returning to the game he loves was his daughter Sasha’s dream to become a jockey.

He decided to support her decision and to be around at the track to give her the best start in the profession.

When I started riding work a couple of years ago is when she started talking about it. I said to give her the best chance to learn it all was for me to be back in the game as well.

“That was my main motivation, to help her and everything else fell into place.”

Fry has slowly built up his support base and was delighted to link up with the leading Tom Button stable in Bowen as well the Hughes and Ryan stables among others.

The 47-year-old is prepared to put in the miles up and down the Bruce Highway to chase opportunities.

“Once a week I go down to Tommy Button’s usually on a Wednesday to gallop horses and help out with his babies,” Fry said.

“Tommy has been a really big supporter in the short term now. It was a little left field when he approached me. I didn’t expect that to happen.

“I’ve got nothing but admiration for him. He’s giving me a good go on some really good horses.

“It was good to repay the favour at Bowen the other day with a couple of winners and hopefully we can get a few more.

“It was great to win races today for Graham (Hughes) and Ron and Janel Ryan.

“They’ve all been good supporters. Ron actually gave me my first winner back up on the Tablelands.

“So it was a nice result for them. They give me rides just about anywhere they go. I love riding winners for Ronny. We went up to Laura and had a couple of winners there. 

“I’ve been working a fair bit for Graham as well, and Sasha rides work straps for him.

“He’s not only looking after me but Sasha too which is great and he’s taken her under his wing.

“Sher’s only signed up for a Cert. 3 for track work riding. It’s a pathway program into the apprenticeship system. She’s 15, turns 16 in December. She has to finish school before she starts her apprenticeship and she’s coming along in leaps and bounds.”

Leading Rockhampton trainer Clinton Taylor continued his remarkable winning strike rate in Townsville with a treble and is already planning his next trip north.

Taylor won with Cryptology, Pride Of Venus and Out Of Luck.

The master trainer, who has 35 horses in work, has a 28% career winning strike rate but in Townsville enjoys a whopping 40% success rate with 35 winners.

Taylor is eyeing off races in Townsville on Sunday, October 5 and could be back to target the Cluden’s first two-year-old race of the season, the Pallarenda Stakes on October 25.

“I like coming here and one thing I try my best to do is place my horses. Like Out Of Luck he was well placed today I thought and Pride of Venus was great and she’s one to follow,” Taylor said.

“It’s a very busy time of the year for us. We’ve got plenty of two-year-olds. We’ve got 14 that we bought so hopefully we’ll have a couple that’ll be ready for the Pallarenda.

“There’s a couple showing us a little bit early, and that’s something we’ve done well at - young horses.

“I love it here. The facilities are second to none. The tie-ups are beautiful and cool and I love coming up.

“We came the night before. We’re really lucky Billy Kenning houses me right near the track and now we’ll be on the road and at 2.30 in the morning we’ll be back at track work. 

“It’s a long haul but worthwhile when you get the results like today.”

Taylor applied for stables in Brisbane recently but was unsuccessful but is still keen to eventually shift his operation south when the opportunity arises.

He is looking forward to the return of city class galloper Astapor who has had a wind operation and the promising filly Don’tdoubthelady.

Smart mare Chinny Boom has been retired and been sent to stallion Harry Angel.

Chinny Boom won nine races and $747,000 in prize money.