Tye Angland’s in the deep end of the pool when it comes to talent

[Ulquiorra]

TYE Angland knows the challenges in front of him for the new season — he sees them every time he glances around the jockeys’ rooms in Sydney.

Sitting there are Hugh Bowman and Kerrin McEvoy, so is Blake Shinn, Glyn Schofield, Tim Clark, Jason Collett and Tommy Berry, who’s back from Hong Kong.

There’s Andrew Adkins, Jay Ford, Josh Parr and Christian Reith, Kathy O’Hara, Rachel King and Winona Costin, and some gun young apprentices — including Sam Weatherley and Jean Van Overmeire.

Corey Brown returns to the saddle next week, reigning premier jockey Brenton Avdulla will finish a Japanese riding stint at end of this month, there is even talk Brett Prebble may join Sydney’s ranks this season.

Has there ever been a deeper pool of riding talent in Sydney racing?

Angland knows if he’s to repeat his outstanding results of last season — when he finished third in the Sydney premiership — it’s up to him to pull his sleeves up and get stuck into the hard graft ahead.

Angland, 29, says his results from last season give him belief and “confidence” in the saddle. He maintains the competition among Sydney jockeys is at least as strong as when he was riding successfully against some of the world’s best riders in Honkers earlier this decade.

“When there are so many good jockeys, you have to raise the bar,’’ he said.

“There are times during a season when you can sometimes slip into your comfort zone but you can’t afford to let that happen when the standard is so high.

“We are all trying to get the best rides out of the top stables. I’ve just got to go about my business and hope to get the support.’’

Every jockey has their own approach to their riding, with Angland revealing he doesn’t do an excessive amount of form study or trackwork.

“I go through the fields and know the horses I am up against but my main focus is on my horse and its pros and cons. I like to ride the race as it unfolds,’’ Angland said.

“But I do believe it is a big plus to know who your fellow jockeys are riding and how to place yourself to be in the right spot.

“I’ve been riding against them all for many years now and you get to know the things that they will do in a race.’’

Angland is taller than most of his peers and is constantly wasting to keep his riding weight at about 55kg. The toll this takes on his body, plus the fact he is riding at race meetings up to five days a week, means he limits his trackwork schedule.

“I’m in a position where I’m not really tied down to any stable so I don’t ride a lot of work,’’ he said.

“If I’m asked to go out and ride work I will, but I don’t just rock up. I’ve tried that before and it doesn’t work for me.

“When I ride trackwork it makes for long days. We have trials and race meetings most days and I do a lot of wasting.

“Over the years, I’ve learned I need to balance the workload with my wasting to keep my body and mind fresh.’’

Angland has found the right balance because he is coming off a sensational 2017-18, when he set career highs in all the vital categories. He finished behind Avdulla and Shinn only in the jockeys’ premiership with 72 winners — and rode 140 on all tracks. He won five Group 1 races and his mounts earned more than $12 million in prizemoney.

“Last season, I was riding confident and riding winners,’’ Angland said.

“I was getting better rides and it was the best season I’ve had in terms of the quality of horses I was riding. But I have to be realistic, the year I had will be very hard to top.

“If I can repeat that success, it would be great. If I can beat it that would be even better. The way I look at it, I’ve done it once so I can do it again, but you need that support from trainers and owners.’’

A lot of Angland’s success last season, at least at the top level of racing, centred around two crack three-year-old — Trapeze Artist and Ace High.

Trapeze Artist developed into a brilliant sprinter under Angland, winning three times at Group 1 level — Golden Rose, T.J. Smith Stakes and All Aged Stakes.

Ace High was as tough and durable as they come, claiming the Group 1 classic double of the Spring Champion Stakes and Victoria Derby.

With the 2018-19 racing season into its second week, Angland finds himself in the enviable position of being first-choice rider for $13 million The Everest favourite Trapeze Artist and for one of the early favourites in the $7.3 million Melbourne Cup, Ace High.

“One is focused on our biggest sprint race (Trapeze Artist) and the other one is being aimed at our biggest staying race (Ace High),’’ Angland said.

Angland rode Ace High in a Rosehill barrier trial this week when the stayer finished a good second, less than a length behind Alizee. The world’s best racehorse, Winx, was a close third.

He was a keen observer of Trapeze Artist’s effort in a later trial at the same session, finishing less than a length away in fourth position under James Innes Jr.

“They were great horses to me last season and both are returning as four-year-olds this spring. They are a bit older and stronger, hopefully they have improved, too,’’ Angland said. “When Ace High won the Derby at Flemington, it was a special moment in my career and so was Derby day at Randwick.

“I experienced the highs and lows of racing in about 45 minutes with Ace High so brave in defeat losing the (ATC Australian) Derby narrowly before Trapeze Artist won the T.J. Smith Stakes. They were my two standout days from last season.’’

Whether Angland can relive those glory moments in coming months remains to be seen but he has begun the new season in a similar rich vein of winning form.

After taking most of last month off and spending time with his young family on holiday in Hawaii, Angland returned last week to ride four winners at the Wyong Thursday meeting, backed up with a double at Randwick last Saturday and another winner at Canterbury on Wednesday.

He has seven rides at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday, including talented Legend Of Condor in the Listed $150,000 Smithfield RSL Club Rosebud (1100m).

Legend Of Condor, a $8.50 chance in TAB Fixed Odds betting behind boom Godolphin colt Plague Stone at $2.60, impressed Angland when he trialled nicely with a close third to Performer and Fiesta in a barrier trial at Rosehill on Tuesday.

The Gerald Ryan-trained Legend Of Condor won the Victory Vein Plate on debut last October and, in his four starts during autumn, he was twice stakes placed in the Skyline and Kindergarten, and ran fourth in the Pierro Plate and Todman Stakes.

The Rosebud is the sort of race in which horses on the periphery last season can make an early statement as three-year-olds and Angland believes Legend Of Condor is capable of running very well.

“He’s a nice colt and is well placed in this race,’’ Angland said.

“I guess Plague Stone is the standout horse going forward but my colt is tough and was competitive at a high level last season.’’

His other rides at the Rosehill meeting are Lifesaver (TAB Highway), Zourkhan

(St John Bowling Club Handicap), Isorich (Campbelltown Catholic Club Handicap), Sons Of John (Premier’s Cup Prelude), Shiraz (Canterbury Hurlstone Park RSL Club Spring Preview) and Absolute (ClubsNSW Handicap).

A refreshed Angland said the mid-year family holiday overseas came just at the right time and he can now concentrate his energies on the new season.

“I actually came back from holidays lighter than when I was riding. I feel my body was just that tired,’’ he said.

“We had two weeks in Hawaii, I had just over three weeks off in total and I obviously needed the break.

“But I noticed in the last week or so of my holidays I was starting to look at my phone, check the results and replays — I knew it was time to get back into it.’’

Angland should break another significant milestone in coming months because he needs just 48 to bring up 1000 career winners. But he is not the type to necessarily set himself particular goals each season.

“It’s something to look forward to but sometimes when you have numbers like that in your head you can start overthinking things and focus on it too much. As I said, I just like to ride the race,’’ he said.

“In a way, I know what I want and that is to be successful and ride as many winners as I can. After riding 140 winners last season, I would like to try and get to 150 and, hopefully, have a few Group 1 winners among them, too.’’