Episode 132: Jeff Penza

Great to chat with highly respected jockey Jeff Penza who reflects on the horror fall at Queanbeyan that sidelined him for ten months. Jeff talks about the decision he made many years ago to become a travelling jockey. He’s been concentrating on provincial and country meetings which have brought him 1074 winners in ten years. The popular jockey talks of his apprenticeship to Peter Balzen, and winning associations with trainers like Dr. Geoff Chapman, Jack Denham, Paul Sutherland and Chris Waller. Jeff talks about his family, his property on Sydney’s outskirts and the showjumpers who’ve helped him to get back to race riding. He recalls the day in 2015 when he almost beat Winx on a Hawkesbury trained galloper called Sons Of John. This is a review of the career of a gifted jockey who chose to get on the road to make his living. He’s ridden hundreds of winners and made a million friends along the way.