Ryan Has Her Finger on the Button for First Cup Start

When the gates crash back and the big field jumps away in this week’s Ladbrokes Townsville Cup, starter Chantel Ryan will chalk up her own personal milestone.

Ryan, one of the few women starters in Queensland, will be supervising the start of the North’s biggest race for the first time.

“It will be a proud thing to start my first Cup but I’ll be totally focused on the job of loading them up and getting them away safely and on time,” Ryan said.

“My dad Wayne’s one of my biggest supporters, he watches me on Sky Channel all of the time and is a mad racing fan, so it’ll definitely be a highlight especially with the starting position so close to the crowd.”

A bookkeeper by profession, Ryan grew up in Georgetown in a racing mad family.

Her ringer dad Wayne “Scobie” Ryan rode as an amateur jockey at many of the grass fed race meetings in the north west and grandfather Tom was an accomplished trainer.

Daughter Chantel maintained a keen interest in local racing and horse sports and continues to serve as the Treasurer of the Einasleigh Race Club.

But it was a Facebook page advertisement for barrier attendants at the Townsville Turf Club that began her rise to the position of senior starter at the club.

“I actually saw Macca (John McIntosh) put an ad up on Facebook a couple of years back now for barrier attendants here in Townsville,” Ryan said.

“I thought that’d be something to do to get me out of the office and work with horses.

“I actually didn’t even know if it was paid. I didn’t care to be honest because out at Einasleigh we’re all volunteers. 

“I started working out here and Macca was working behind the barriers too so he showed me the ropes and taught me pretty much everything I know.

“Then I went on my first trip to Cairns with him and it snowballed from there - going to pretty much every race meeting from Cairns to Mackay, out to Ewan and Pentland.

“Jason Cullen (former Cluden course manager and starter) actually asked me if I’d be interested in learning to be a starter before he moved to the Gold Coast. I don’t think we had that many around.

“I said definitely and I started working with him as an assistant starter and he was teaching me along the way and it went from there.

“I’m a fairly organised person in my career as a bookkeeper because I juggle heaps of different clients and all different types of work and deadlines.

“As a starter I think the biggest challenge is juggling the timing with loading, because you’re working with animals, obviously that have a mind of their own, and with the TAB you’re working on the clock.

“The crew we have in Townsville, I’ve been working with them for the past two or three years and they’re all very good and experienced with horses so I’m really lucky there.

“It’s mainly getting the timing right and working with the jockeys and horses and knowing the horses, their idiosyncrasies and temperaments.

“We know most of them – we might need a bit more time for this fella for instance because he’s a heavy lift and plays up a bit.

“We try and work on 10 seconds per horse to load for the ones that are pretty straight forward.

“I put a fair bit of work into preparing. I get the starters reports from the club a day or so before and I also go over the stewards summary which includes information on their previous starts.

“I make little notes on my starter’s sheets for me and the assistant starter just to say this one has proved difficult in the past or that one is a bit tricky.

“It can be dangerous at the barriers. They’re horses, they’re big creatures and you’ve just got to be wary of where you are and what they’re doing - especially up in the barriers where it’s a confined space. If one goes completely off it can be a bit daunting up there.”

After taking over as senior starter in Townsville in November last year, Ryan has had a steady build up to her first carnival and the increase in field sizes.

She’s been champing at the bit to preside over her first 16-horse field.

“With the carnival finally here I was a bit excited about having my first 16 horse field,” she said.

“I got one with 15 runners last week, there was one scratching, so I’ll have to wait a little longer.

“As the fields started getting a bit bigger - I talk to Jason (Cullen) a lot and he’s been a great mentor and he said ‘the big races like the Cup are just another race mate, just another race’.

“Regardless of whether it’s the Townsville Cup or a non-Tab race on Melbourne Cup Day I treat them all the same.”

“As the starter, my number one goal is that the horses and jockeys get in there safely, and get the fairest start and get off safely.

“I try and make sure everyone’s safe and sound and everything runs smoothly. Obviously there are times when things just happen, Horses can play up pretty badly but we have a great, experienced crew behind the barriers who work together to respond to issues as they happen.”

Ryan said the gender barrier hadn’t been a consideration in her experience in the racing industry.

From working as a barrier attendant to taking on the role as starter, she said she had received considerable support from clubs and stewards.

“It (gender) hasn’t really been something I’ve thought too much about. The guys I work with in Townsville, I’ve been working with for years and I’m pretty much one of the guys,” Ryan said.

“And probably a third of our barrier staff are females as well. It’s a really good team, and we get along very well.

“It was easier for me to move up to the role after working on the barriers.

“A lot of females might think they don’t have the strength to work behind the barriers so they might not take that opportunity.

“It’s not about brute strength.

“I don’t think these days there’s really anything from the industry’s point of view that prevents anyone from doing that.

“You see most of the apprentice jockeys for example at the moment are mostly females. The riding and training ranks and all the other areas of racing have a lot of women involved. 

“When I first started I guess I was a bit concerned with being taken seriously. I’m not saying that’s because I’m a female – but because obviously I’m not as experienced as a lot of people are.

“But I’ve received a huge amount of support and hopefully I’m earning respect which is a big thing in the racing industry.

“Now I start Bowen, Home Hill, I’m starting in Ewan in September, I started at Ingham the other day and I still go to Cairns and Mackay if they need anyone behind the barriers.

“The clubs come directly to me to see if I can get a crew together because a lot of smaller places don’t have their own barrier attendants. So it’s normally the guys from Townsville that go with me,

“We’ve got a little Facebook group chat I’ve created where I put all of the race meetings there and say this is what’s coming up this month and we work out who’s available and who’s not and put some schedules together. 

“We have a great day and joke around, but we take the job very seriously because at the end of the day owners, trainers and jockeys put a lot of money and time into getting these horses to the gates and people are betting on them so I want to make sure they get the best opportunity to get a good start.”