Jockey Ash Morgan on Riding in England and Australia

0:00 Kurrinda news before the interview

George 0:00 We're here, Episode 6, Kurrinda Bloodstocks Off N Racing. We're in a local pub of mine, Patterson Tavern. I've had many a beer here. Thanks to the guys for having us. I'm a presenter down today, unfortunately. Sean's out at the farm due to, we've had an influx of yearlings arrive, obviously, from Magic Millions. He's got his hands full out there. We've had farriers, plumbers, fencers, everything going on out there at the minute. Sean's out there, the new paddocks that we're installing, should be done by the end of this week, so that's great. Give us a bit more room. Sean's out there, Sean's out there, Sean. Yeah, it's great to see improvement in the farm all the time. We're always putting back into it. But we've had a hectic week up at the Magic Millions, of course. Sean's out there, Sean. We've bought eight yearlings with different trainers. We believe there's something there for everyone. We've sold half of them already. The rest of them have limited shares. So our current database, they've just been great. Like jumping on board. They've got full faith in us. And because of the results we're getting, they've got the utmost confidence. And if you do want to get involved in any of them, before the PDS's and everything come out, we're doing all that at the minute. But give us a shout, george.kbloodstock.com.au or jump on our website, kbloodstock.com.au. And you'll see everything we have on offer there. You'll see the links to this podcast and everything there. We've had a busy time on the track as well, of course. We've had some nice horses trialing recently, two year olds, having a few jump outs. And this week, obviously this podcast, all the results will be out by the time this comes out. But we've got a, we were due to have five runners. Unfortunately, yesterday, Super Norweshy looked to be riding with a winning chance. It was the perfect race. Matt Dale was pretty confident. And as horses always do, something goes wrong sometimes. But she hurt herself on the float. She's okay, but it was enough for her to miss yesterday. But she'll be back. Matt has a few races targeted for her next week. Goldburn on her local track. She's not far off a win, we'd reckon, on her first up run. That form was, Frank, pretty good. The winner won, or ran second, sorry, at Flemington on the weekend. It was very unlucky. So she should be in with the right chance. We've got Aguinea returning after a long layoff. Dave Pfeiffer and his team have done a great job with him. He's been very patient with him. And he'll go to Gosford and, look, he'll be there. He's obviously had almost over a year off now. And he'll need the fitness, but he's ticked all the boxes so far and it's good to see him back. We've got two big runners on the weekend, Boston Rocks and Malibu. Different states, we've got everything covered. Sydney is Randwick, Boston Rocks. And Malibu heads up to the sunny coast to take advantage of that cutest bonus scheme while she still can. But very winning chances. Boston's got to bounce back. He was a bit fresh the last time over the 1,200. But we're confident he can do it. And then on Sunday we've got Sovereign Dayne looking to back up. He had a great win last start over the 1,600. And my guest here beside me, Ash Morgan. Ash, you rode him. You gave him a peach.

3:22 Sovereign Dane's win and Kurrinda's new yearlings

Ash Morgan 3:22 Yeah, he won good. His work into it had been pretty good. So he's done well having that spell and he's come back strong.

George 3:30 He really enjoyed being able to jump, cross and dictate, didn't he? And just roll along.

Ash Morgan 3:35 Yeah, he did. He's not the easiest ride. He can just want to be a little bit wayward sometimes. So the plan was to go out and be forward and let him get in a rhythm. And he was never getting beat really, was he?

George 3:46 No, no. It was a very good win. And we were up at the Magic Millions. We had purchased a few yearlings at that point. And a few beers deep. So it was pretty good shouting at the table from myself, Nathan and Sean. Great to get a win. Yeah. And as I said, we did purchase eight yearlings up there, half of which are sold now. So we've got some exciting, really exciting quality horses across the board for everyone to get involved in. We've got our first two yearlings going to the all flying, all conquering Gay Waterhouse and Adrian Botts stable. And they can't do any wrong, especially with their two year olds. So we're pretty excited about that venture. And we've got horses with Nathan, Matt Doyle, Chris Anderson. Yeah, so it's pretty exciting with them. Last week on the track, trial and wise, we had an exciting horse. I don't know if you know much about him Ash, Private Harry.

Ash Morgan 4:37 That's in Nathan's stable. Yeah, I had a sit at him. I think Kobe had a sit at him too. And then won't let go of him. I got too after for the trials. Yeah, but no, he looked like he'd come on a lot for his first trial.

4:48 Growing up around horses and jump racing

George 4:48 He trailed good the other day. Yeah. Yeah, I have a share in him myself. So it's a tough ownership group on him. But you don't want the ride on him. But no, I mean, we'll jump into a bit about you and thanks for joining us, obviously coming out here. But you started obviously overseas and much like myself and our producer Dave. We're all from the other side of the world. But how did you get involved in it? Did you always want to be a jockey or?

Ash Morgan 5:14 Yeah, I sort of my grandfather was a hunchman. He used to have fox sounds. I always had horses and point to point is that at home. So I was always around horses from a young age. Probably didn't really start taking it seriously to sort of 10 or 11. But as long as I can remember, I always wanted to be a jockey. I was mad into jump racing. I think Easterbrack won his third champion hill.

George 5:38 That's how I got started at Cheltenham. It was like Hardy Eustice's braving.

Ash Morgan 5:42 Yeah, yeah, that was one of the best races. Them three came up the hill. But yeah, I got into it through jump racing and then I got to 16 and I was still fairly light. So I always thought the flat would be a limited time on it. But I stayed fairly light. So it was good.

5:57 First rides in England

George 5:57 And who gave you your first start over there?

Ash Morgan 5:59 So I was at Mark Tompkins in Newmarket. So I went there to be an apprentice to him. He had Sal Golem who was champion apprentice a couple of years before I went. And so yeah, I thought I'd go there. I actually went to Philip Hobbs. I was going to go and work there. And he said, what weight are you? And I was like, every jump jockey is about 9 and a half stone. I was like, 9 and a half stone? I think it was about 7 and a half stone. So he said, I think you should try the flat first.

George 6:26 You got to run away with those. Yeah. Yeah. So did they give you your first winner, Mark?

Ash Morgan 6:32 Yeah. I rode a horse with Sumner at Pontefract. It was an apprentice race. It was a proper setup job. Had its three runs and it was a handicap debut. And he ran away with me pretty much. I gave him a pack crossing line and he ran away with me down the hill. So it was a steering job. He couldn't get beat. But it was good. Yeah, it was a good way to start.

George 6:51 Yeah. And did you ride out your claim over there or was it when you came over here?

Ash Morgan 6:56 No, it was when I came over here. So I think I rode seven or eight seasons there in England and I rode 71 winners. It was a slow burn. I think my best season was 16 winners. Yeah. I think my last season I rode a listed winner and I rode one more winner after it. And then I stopped riding over there. So, yeah, it was, I think 14, 15, 16 was most of my years there, you know?

George 7:17 And was it just so competitive over there or the lack of racing compared to here that that made it tougher?

Ash Morgan 7:23 I think there's a lot of, a lot of apprentices coming through. So every trainer has their apprentice that they use themselves. So unless your stable is going really well, it's hard to branch out of it. I was with Mark who was really old school. So if you did anything wrong, you'd get a mump suspension. So you'd just get rolling and maybe turning late. Mark himself would be the suspension. Yeah. For like coming in late and things like that. Yeah. Yeah. And as a young, as being young, I would just get bollocking for something stupid and I get a mump for something ridiculous. And then you get momentum going and it pull you up a bit. But I was good. He was hard, but it was, it was a good place to, to sort of educate you, I suppose. It set you up for life. Yeah. Yeah. What everyone else after was really easy to deal with.

George 8:11 Even Nathan.

Ash Morgan 8:12 Yeah. No, yeah. Nathan, yeah. He's easy to deal with. But no, Mark was, he was very good at it. He gave me opportunities. You're either riding everything or you're riding nothingness or whatever it was, you know?

8:22 A break from riding for real estate

George 8:22 Yeah. Yeah. That's fair enough. And you need that when you're young. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. And you, people might not notice, but you took a bit of a break when you're back home and you tried something a bit different.

Ash Morgan 8:34 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I, I, um, my last season, I, I said, I just, um, I rode a listed winner and I thought I was coming towards the end of my three pounds and I still didn't get a kick on after. And I thought, well, if it's not going to happen for me now, it's probably never going to happen. Um, so yeah, I thought I'll try something different and I was probably getting a little bit heavy, but probably just opportunities drying up. I was getting a bit lazy with my wife as well. Um, yeah, I went and did real estate, which was, I left school at 14, you know, barely sat in front of a computer or anything like that. So it was something different, but it was, um, were you selling the houses? Selling them. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I actually did. All right. I, I got the job. Cause one of the lads was into racing. So, um, I got the job that way. And yeah, selling houses. I sold quite a few houses and it was good. Took me out of my comfort zone a bit. Yeah. Cause I wasn't really probably the best communicator when I was younger. So probably making 50 phone calls a day. And then I went and did recruitment where you're making probably a hundred plus calls a day, you know, so even though it wasn't planned, it actually helped me when I came back to riding, you know?

9:37 Coming back to riding and moving to Australia

George 9:37 Yeah. And at what point then did you go, no, this isn't for me. I'm going to go to Australia and ride.

Ash Morgan 9:42 Well, I, um, I was sort of just losing that. I liked the competitiveness of it. And I was just getting a bit bored. And like I'd been in the yard full time, so I was 14. So I wanted to do something different, have a normal life. And once you've done it for a year or two, it's boring enough for it. It's only some holidays you can go on and meals you can eat, you know? So, um, yeah, I just decided I wanted to get back riding. Didn't really know in what way. Like I knew it was nearly no ride over jumps. I was like, I was about 68 kilos at the time. So I'm not sure I get the weight down. Yeah. Um, so I sent a few emails out and Brett Kavanagh got back to me. Um, and I'd already organized to go to America to ride a bit of work. Cause I hadn't sat on a horse in two years, you know? So, um, yeah, the cab got back to me and offered me a job. So that's how I ended up here.

George 10:28 Yeah. So what did he take you on then as you, you still had your apprentice, your claim, did you then?

Ash Morgan 10:34 No, no. So they didn't give me a claim. Unfortunately, I would have, would have loved to have had it when I came over. So I didn't have a claim. Um, it was just as a job as a track rider. We've used to get rides. Yeah. Yeah. Nothing was promised, but he said, if you can ride, I'll throw you on.

George 10:48 Yeah. Yeah. So he gave you your first sight. Was it hard coming over? Like settling in and that?

Ash Morgan 10:53 Yeah, it was, um, I went to Santa Anita and I knew a few people there and I came over, I didn't know anyone. And I, I was planned on saving a heap of money when I was in America and didn't do any of that. Spend it all. You just go out and save nothing. So I came over with nothing. And, um, yeah, Cav, um, Steph, that works at Cav picked me up from the airport and took me to school. And it was, it was different. You know, I was in Newmarket where there's something going on all the time. And I came to school and then there was nothing really going on and they didn't know anyone. So, um, you know, Cav's family's really good. I'm good mates with Jack and that. So, um, he took me around and we did a heap of stuff I wouldn't usually be doing, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Um, it was good. It was good. It was what I needed at that time as well, you know?

George 11:36 It kind of opens your eyes that there's more to life than just that, isn't it?

Ash Morgan 11:40 Yeah. A hundred percent.

George 11:41 I remember the first time I got on the train and went to school and I thought, as I got through like singled in Musselbrook, I was like, where am I going? Like, what am I doing with my life?

Ash Morgan 11:49 I was the same. I spoke to somebody and said, it's only an hour outside of Sydney. Yeah. And then we got to, I reckon Musselbrook and we were still going. I was like, we could go anywhere here.

George 11:59 And, uh, it's funny on the train, like the, the passengers, they differ. The further you go along, like.

Ash Morgan 12:07 Yeah. Between Sydney and Central Coast, they're a bit different.

12:09 Racing in England and Australia compared

George 12:09 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You hold your bag a little bit tighter. But no, it's good. I never looked back and obviously you didn't either. Yeah. Would you ever go home now or?

Ash Morgan 12:18 No, no. I went home, um, at the end of the season a couple of, a couple of years ago and I had a few rides. I rode a few for George Bowie when I went back. And, um, I didn't really, it wasn't really there for me to go back. Like just, you know, the money's terrible there. And it's just opportunities are probably better now than what they were when I was claiming. But I just think it's hard to turn you back on, on here, you know?

George 12:41 Yeah. And you said like the money. So in terms of the different styles and the race and stuff like that, what are the biggest difference for our listeners?

Ash Morgan 12:50 Like between the race and over there to here? Yeah. Well, the, the quality in England is obviously very good on the whole, but just the, the prize money for it isn't, doesn't match the quality of horses that go around. You know, like, um, when I came over, I was riding in non tabs and they were 6,000 to the winner. Well, that's just normal race day. And then you get in your 2,000 sterling to the winner, you know? So yeah, and they're the lowest grade of horses over here and you, you know, the prize money is better. So, um, yeah, so something is a shame in England. Cause the race tracks are amazing and, and, but just the money doesn't back it up.

George 13:23 Yeah. It's hard, isn't it? Like over there, cause say you're on the all weather on a Saturday night or Friday night or something. And you said it's two grand and that to the winner by the time you pay the truck, the strap or the jockey, like it's not much change out of that. No, that's right. So that's why you like punting has to be the way at home unless you're one of the elite.

Ash Morgan 13:41 That's right. That's right. Yeah.

George 13:43 But, um, yeah, so that obviously the prize money here is great and the opportunities are better. Cause there seems to be a lot more racing than that here.

Ash Morgan 13:50 Yeah. There's a lot more racing. Obviously day to day is, you know, you can go racing if you want it every day, you know?

George 13:55 And you nearly do like, don't you? Yeah. Yeah. You cover a lot of kilometers.

Ash Morgan 13:59 Yeah. I'm trying to, I'm trying to scale back a bit. Um, the year I won the premiership, I went everywhere. Yeah. And, and it was good riding winners. But at the end of the season, you know, I was just, I was pancake, you know?

George 14:11 So, um, are you just drive on your own or?

Ash Morgan 14:14 Yeah. I share lifts sometimes, you know, and I don't mind being on my own to be fair. I just turn the music off and have a think to myself and that. But, um, it's also good to get away and have that time yourself when you're driving. Cause you're around people all the time. Yeah. And I'm on the phone, you know?

14:27 The premiership year and setting targets

George 14:27 You got to be switched on. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that year you won the premiership. How many winners did you ride?

Ash Morgan 14:33 Uh, 136.

George 14:34 136. Yeah. And you've rolled what? 66 already this year?

Ash Morgan 14:37 Yeah. I think 66 and a half. What's the half? The dead heat? Dead heat. Yeah. Should be counted as a whole, I think.

George 14:43 Yeah. Still won.

Ash Morgan 14:44 Still won. Yeah.

George 14:45 Yeah. You won't be saying it if you win the premiership again by half. But, yeah, so you're having a great season so far, mate. And do you ever like set yourself targets at the start of the year or do you just go with it? How it goes?

Ash Morgan 14:59 Nah, I, well for this season I just wanted to ride better quality winners. Winners, numerically, probably not as important to me now. Like I've done that, like that year and for me now I just want to be able to ride better quality winners and to be honest just have more prize money than my best prize money is trying to keep improving that. Cause I think riding winners is all well and good but sometimes no one's watching when you're riding winners out in certain places, you know?

George 15:26 Yeah, like if you can get a winner on a Saturday, it's probably worth, what, five winners during the week. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, I see you won quality over quantity. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, nah, 100% get that, mate. And, but, yeah, you're still, prize money is going pretty well. You're in the top ten this year. I think you're sitting ninth at the minute and I think you've got about 2.3 million in prize money. Yeah, yeah, no, it's crazy. You do well hiding that from the tax man.

Ash Morgan 15:49 Oh, I know, yeah. I know, yeah. Well, I'm a lot better organised now. I've got Ben Pollock doing my taxes which helps me. Free plug. Yeah.

15:58 A month trying Queensland

George 15:58 And a few years ago, I think it was 2023, was it, you were thinking about moving up to Queensland?

Ash Morgan 16:03 Yeah, I, I, so I, like I said, I'd done that, done that year. And I was like, at the end of the season, it was good, but what did I want to do next, you know? And an opportunity with Matt Dunn, I'd ride a bit for him. And so he just moved back to Moreland Bar base and the plan was to do a month there. I probably picked a bad time a year to go to get a good guy and then it was just carnival time, you know? But I rode in some stakes races there, ran a few places and that and had a couple of winners when I was there. But I just thought maybe the set up there wasn't, wasn't for me, you know? Great way of lifestyle. I wouldn't mind living there, you know? But I like to be busy to a, to a point. It's probably a little bit too far the other way, you know?

16:44 The biggest buzz from a winner

George 16:44 Oh, you keep earning this prize money, you can retire in that area. Yeah, you'll be right. Nice house there on Byron or something. What was your first ever winner? Do you still get that, that thrill, like you mentioned the winner obviously, but do you still get that same kick out of it as you do now riding a winner?

Ash Morgan 17:01 Yeah, I mean you do, probably certain winners more than others. Like if you've had something to do with a horse.

George 17:09 Like yourself, it's one you've done in road work. Yeah, yeah. And you go and you've told, like I've told all of the credit to him,

Ash Morgan 17:15 and I've gone on one of it, you know, you get a bit of a kick out of that. But, you know, riding better winners is, like a winner and I had the same old, you know, it was a 300 grand race. Yeah. You've had a great affiliation with that horse. Yeah, no, he's been great to me. And, and, and Jason, dynamic sticking with me on him was, was good. And then to pay him back with, with winning on him was, it was even better, you know? So that's probably the biggest buzz I've had out riding the winner to be honest.

George 17:39 Would he be the highest level winner you've rode? He would, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Ash Morgan 17:43 Like I said, I rode a stakes winner in England, but it was probably worth what a provincial would be worth, you know? Yeah. If even. Yeah, yeah. So, um, no, no, he, he's been great to me, that horse.

George 17:53 What's it like, like explain to our listeners and that and viewers, cause they can watch this on YouTube too, but, um, what's it like sitting on the back of one when it just gives you that feel like it's a proper horse or a new two year old coming through and it's the first time you've sat on it or even in a race, like, with sovereign day and like, even though you say he's a hard horse to ride, but everything clicked right that day. Like it just fell perfectly. What's that feel like for you?

Ash Morgan 18:17 Yeah. Well, it gives you a lot of confidence, especially in a race when you're riding one and you're asking to improve and they're just doing it easily or you're not even asking them to improve and they're just doing it, you know? It's, it's a good feeling. And a lot of times when you ride them horses, you, you sort of know you're winning early on in the race, you know, like I said, with sovereign day, he was never getting beat from the half mile, you know?

George 18:38 Yeah. Um, not as the day before he was beat at the half mile.

Ash Morgan 18:41 That's right. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So, you know, what, you know, sometimes when you're going to win a race early on, and that's, you know, sometimes, you know, so, but again, getting on good horses, what is what you want to do. And, um, even track work when you ride one that goes well, you know, it gives you a lot of confidence. But, you know, it gives you a buzz because you want to know where it's going. You want to make sure you're on it and stuff like that. So that's what you keep chasing. Yeah.

George 19:01 And when you going into the races, like you do all your homework on all the form, previous runs and everything like that.

Ash Morgan 19:07 Yeah. Yeah. So I go through my form, do my replays and, and I just get the newspaper and Mark Efron off and, um, James Winks does my mentor and he's helped me a lot. And we go through the race together beforehand. Um, so yeah, now probably more than ever, I've got a real good guide on what, what most horses are doing through the run, um, before we even go out, you know? Obviously it can go completely out the window when you miss a kick or wind you out the back.

George 19:32 You got a plan in C, D and E there. Yeah. Yeah. Um, in the wain room, who's the biggest characters around?

Ash Morgan 19:39 Uh, there's a, there's a few, there's a few. Um, I say McGorian is probably the biggest character. He, um, he loves to wind up and, um, but he's, he's good fun to be around when you're having a good day. Maybe not when you're having a bad day, he'll, um, he grinds on you a bit, but I, he's probably one of the biggest characters to be fair, but there's a lot of good lads, you know, I'm friends with a fair few of them.

19:59 A jockey's morning and daily routine

George 19:59 We won't ask you who the biggest winder is. It might cause a problem. And what's your like, just for our listeners and that they, they see you on TV and stuff like that and all other jockeys and it's easy for them to pot one or that for a bad ride. Cause they lost their $5 on it. But like, just explain to our listeners, what's a morning for you? Like you'd get up at what time you got to do all this, then you got to go race and you might have to lose weight for it and all that kind of stuff.

Ash Morgan 20:24 Yeah. Yeah. Look, it's dependent on the day. Like I ride work, um, a couple of days a week, mostly Tuesdays and Saturdays. Um, but if I'm not going to go to the gym, I'm going to go to the gym. Um, but if I'm not, you know, I'll get sort of seven o'clock, something like that. Um, and if I have a bit of weight to lose, I'm pretty lucky. I don't have too much weight to lose at most of the half really on, on race day. Um, and you know, and then just obviously the travel wherever you're going, but on a track work day, I'll probably be up at half four again for five, maybe a little bit later, get the wild ones out of the way and then I'll turn up for them. Yeah. And so, you know, it's, it's a, it's a big day. It's a long day. The late nights getting home and then just to repeat and doing it over and over and over again, you know, I think most days I've done is 14 straight, you know, so, um, it does wear on you a little bit, but, um, you know, I try to keep to a routine in a way. And when I have a rest day, I really try and make it a rest day.

21:13 The hardest part of being a jockey

George 21:13 And what's like the hardest part about being a jockey? Like obviously you'd cop it from unhappy punters and unhappy owners trainers.

Ash Morgan 21:22 Yeah. Yeah. I say I get, I could probably get more than most, I reckon, onto it. There might be a few more that do, but yeah.

George 21:29 I don't have to. I just stay off. It's successful.

Ash Morgan 21:32 Yeah. I seem to get in the fire line away. It's probably the way I ride a little bit, you know, I ride them a bit colder than most. So I hope to open myself up to it, but, um, I don't, that's not really a hard path. I sort of, if I, if I find that, if I get a message on Facebook or Instagram, it's usually, you know, I have a laugh at it or something. And, and I never reply to them. I sort of don't waste, waste my time, but probably the hardest thing in the situation I'm just traveling. You know, I don't really like driving that much. And I bought a new car and August, I've done about 50,000 K's on it already.

George 22:02 Easy. Straighten it in.

Ash Morgan 22:03 And it's three grand for a set of four tires. So that's breaking my heart. So, you know, yeah, travel, the travel is a hard one. You know, if everyone was an hour away, it'd be an easy job. I could keep my weight pretty on check and that. So it's the travel, I'd say.

George 22:17 The travel. Yeah. And like when you're safe, you're having a bad week, mate, like, and someone just messages something, some angry punter that like, how do you just brush it off and just go about it?

Ash Morgan 22:29 Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, they, they don't really affect me. If I'm in a bad week, I'm usually terrorizing myself. So whatever they really say that doesn't really have much of a, much of a thing, you know, but, um, yeah, I guess if it came from someone closer to you, that you're, you're in contact with, if an owner or a trainer said, you know, yeah, you've slaughtered that, you're riding terrible. It probably has a bit more weight. Well, it does have a bit more weight behind it than if some random messages, you know,

George 22:53 because they know like, yeah, yeah, yeah. We have a lot of them at home. Two of my brothers are jockeys and myself and my dad, we'd often go into the pub and have a few drinks and that and the two boys would be riding and they'd be on a favor or something and they wouldn't win. Yeah. Yeah. And there's lads around the pub and they slaughter them and we just stay quiet and not say anything. And then the next race will come out and they'll win and they'll be the greatest person in the world. Like, and then we go, oh, that's my brother.

Ash Morgan 23:17 And then he'll just buy you a drink. And actually the funniest thing I've seen, I went to Kalani races, um, couple of years ago and Jordan Gainsman had a fall at last and he got an absolute pearl off it. And he's on the floor winded and the fellow at the shop said, you cost me 20 euro. The bloke's on the floor, you know, trying to catch his breath and he's bagging him for costing him 20 euro, you know.

George 23:37 There was a good promotional video, um, with Ruby Walsh a couple of years ago and, um, someone, when Annie Power fell at the last, and it cost like, the bookies won millions off it. And then some punter on Twitter was given out and he said, oh, Ruby Walsh just jumped off the horse. And so then they got, it was like set up. It wasn't his actors, but they knocked him on its house and they said, come on and put him on the back of a U. Drove as quick as the horse and said to him, jump off. So yeah, it's, it's funny. Like, and obviously, you know, that's what makes racing great because everyone does have an opinion whether you're right or wrong. Yeah. Whether you're $5 on or your millions invested. That's right. So, and over here, especially, it's so accessible and every man and dog and cat is involved in it.

Ash Morgan 24:22 Yeah. Yeah. It's just when people think you're purposely giving one a bad rider. You want to win.

George 24:26 Yeah.

Ash Morgan 24:27 Yeah.

24:29 Goals for the next two years

George 24:29 So, um, yeah, so you're flying at the minute, obviously, and things just keep going from strength to strength. And you said you want to get on if you want to focus more on quality than quantity. But what's like two years from now, where would you like to be? Yeah.

Ash Morgan 24:44 I wouldn't really know. I sort of know where I want to be, but it's hard to really answer. I just want to be challenging myself and going to the races motivated and trying to get to the highest level that I can get to, you know? Um, so like an actual idea of what I'll be into is I'm not too sure, but I just sort of want to keep pushing myself. And, um, if it's doing what I'm doing now, probably, probably not, you know, um, probably have to make a few changes and do a few different things.

George 25:13 Back to the real estate. Yeah.

Ash Morgan 25:15 Yeah. No, no, it'll definitely be, like, I want to ride until, you know, God willing, hopefully I'm healthy until I'm, you know, 40, 45. You know, that's the plan. I'd like to knock over a thousand winners. How old are you now? 33.

George 25:27 Oh, you've got a few years left. A few years, yeah.

Ash Morgan 25:29 I'd like to ride a thousand winners. If I can do that, you know, I'll be happy.

George 25:33 What are you on now?

Ash Morgan 25:34 I think I'm near 500 or maybe past 500. I actually had to look the other day and I think they might have given me a few more than I've actually got. Just take it.

George 25:41 Go with it, mate. Early retirement. Yeah, yeah. You've got a bit to go, but I'm sure the way you're riding, mate, you'll definitely get there. You got any for us coming up that you want to let our listeners know? It doesn't matter anyway, because this will be out after they're running. Yeah, yeah.

Ash Morgan 25:57 I'm just trying to think. Nothing really.

George 25:59 You'd imagine Sovereign would go well if he draws a gate at Wyong.

Ash Morgan 26:02 You think if he draws a gate at Wyong and he gets around the track well, you think he'd go closer.

George 26:06 I think he's trialed there already. I trialed him there. Yeah, and he went well, didn't he? Yeah. So it just kind of would suit his racing style, wouldn't it? Yeah. That sort of track is quite leader biased.

Ash Morgan 26:16 And I think he put himself on speed the other day. Like I said, if he can do that again, run a tighter track, he'll be right. But nothing's really jumping at me at the minute or nothing that I would tell just yet.

George 26:27 Yeah, you can tell me off air. That's fine. But yeah, obviously the good racing's coming up now. You've got all the nice two-year-olds and everything coming out and that. So hopefully, mate, we see you on a Saturday on some of those better quality horses. You definitely deserve it for all your hard work.

Ash Morgan 26:43 Yeah, that's the goal. Hopefully, you can get there a bit more often. I'm going this Saturday, but I'd like to obviously be there more than that.

George 26:51 What are you going this Saturday there?

Ash Morgan 26:53 I'm riding Magnetier for Sam Kev there.

George 26:55 Oh, yeah. Did that win last?

Ash Morgan 26:57 No, he ran third behind Bill and he's come out and won again.

George 27:00 Yeah, yeah.

Ash Morgan 27:01 His run was very good, but he's just really piecing it together. He's another one that's a little bit hit and miss in his mannerisms there. But if he puts it all together, he's a big hope for sure.

George 27:11 Yeah, yeah. Hopefully, he can get the job done for you, mate. Thanks for coming on, really. I appreciate it.

Ash Morgan 27:16 Thanks for coming on, mate.

George 27:17 You did well. Nathan broke some equipment when he was on, so you're one up on him.

Ash Morgan 27:21 Yeah, it wouldn't be like him saying to you, I can't believe I caught strays off in the last time.

George 27:26 He didn't offer to pay for the equipment.

Ash Morgan 27:28 Nah, he wouldn't. He's tight.

George 27:30 He wouldn't spend Christmas. Yeah, yeah. To be fair to him, he bought a couple of rounds at the Gold Coast, but I think it was because they were free.

Ash Morgan 27:36 Because you were buying horses, right?

George 27:37 Yeah, yeah. Nah, he's a good lad. But, nah, yeah, thanks for joining us. We really appreciate it. For all our listeners, like, subscribe, follow, do the whole lot. This is available on Spotify, YouTube, Amazon, all good platforms. This episode will come out just in the run up to the Inglis Classic sale. So, as I said earlier, I won't harp on about them. We do have a few shares left in some yearlings that we bought at Magic Millions. If they're not for you, I'm sure we'll get something at Classic sale and so on throughout the year. Give us a bell, georgia.kbloodstock.com.au, and register your interests with us. We'd love to have you on board. Thanks again to the Partison Tavern for having us to do a great feed here. I've had many of them. The last time I was here was actually for my soccer end of season awards tournament, which I'm still a bit dirty on. I didn't get a C grade player of the year. I was runner up. You don't want most improved player, that's what you don't want. No, yeah. That just means you're a little bit less *** than last year, doesn't it? But no, I'll let that one go because old mate's actually in the share of a horse with us now to beat me. So, he's alright. But yeah, as I said, like, subscribe, send it to your friends, get involved. And we're going to have a feed and a couple of beers and moneybags here beside me might shout the feed.