George Simon: Falling for the love of the sport
George Simon • July 28th, 2025 11:25 AM • 3 min read
As a kid, I was hell bent on being a jockey.
To state the obvious there were several obstacles in my way.
A penchant for food and being terrified of horses didn't augur well for a career in the pigskin.
Having the build of a front row forward was essentially the last straw.
There have been times over my career behind the microphone when I've envied those little men and women in their brightly coloured jackets on race day.
Imagine being James McDonald during the build up to one of those really big Group One races.
Invariably, you'll be riding the favourite, usually a royally bred equine blue blood, trained by one of the best trainers and owned by some of the biggest and most successful owners.
Sure, the sometimes unrealistic expectations that come with that particular territory, can be a daunting prospect.
It's called pressure.
But then as the race starts, it's game time and you've got the opportunity to etch your name into the history books.
Something that JMac has done with ruthless efficiency throughout his storied career.
That's the Jockey life I envisioned for myself as a chubby little fella many years ago .
Of course , there's always another side to this scenario.
It involves the blood, sweat and tears behind the scenes that very few others get to see.
Not to mention the inherent danger of a life as a jockey.
I've been reminded of that danger in recent times.
It's been a hellishly difficult past few weeks for some of our current jockeys.
A cursory glance at the injured jockeys list makes for sombre reading.
There are currently nine jockeys out injured , some of whom have been out for several months and counting.
Four young riders joined the list last Saturday.
Ace Lawson-Carroll, Ashlee Strawbridge, Rihaan Goyaram and Hayley Hassman were all involved in a mid-race fall during the fourth race at Te Rapa on Saturday.
It was one of the worst ones I've seen for a long time.
All four riders were hospitalised with Lawson -Carroll and Strawbridge suffering the most serious injuries.
Fortunately, all the horses involved were relatively unscathed in the incident.
I know a number of jockeys read this column.
I just want to make a special shout out to every one of them.
The bravery, courage, skill and dedication of our jockeys is often taken for granted.
I admit I have certainly been guilty of that myself over the years.
Particularly from the safety of the Commentary Box.
