Episode 471: Shane Scriven

I’ve had a number of verbal and email requests to provide a podcast with a former top Queensland jockey who enjoyed a distinguished career despite a torturous battle with weight. Unable to continue with the ravages of the sweat box, Shane Scriven quit the saddle in 2012 to pursue a brand new career with Racing Queensland. Today he’s firmly established as a counsellor and mentor for young jockeys coming through the system. Guess what! We posted a podcast with Shane almost four years ago. In view of the fact that nothing has changed in his life, we’re going to give the interview another run this week. He begins by talking about the days when he had to take short breaks from riding in order to save his sanity. Shane looks back on his childhood involvement with horses. His sister loved the more elegant riding disciplines. Her brother wanted to go as fast as possible. He says the first trainer with whom he sought an apprenticeship wasn’t interested. He eventually got a start with Eagle Farm trainer Tom Dawson. The former ace jockey reflects on the thrill of his first win. He rode a winning double in fact, and one of his mounts was a quarter horse. Shane rode his first Gr 1 winner in Sydney. The filly Tingo Tango was trained by Doug Bougoure who was destined to become his father-in-law. The former jockey pays tribute to talented galloper Prince Salieri who gave him two Gr 1 wins. He talks about a fleeting association with the outstanding racehorse Rough Habit- one ride for one win in the P.J O’Shea Stakes. He recalls every step of the race. Shane has high regard for Scenic Shot, the last topliner he got to ride. He won two Doomben Cups and an LKS McKinnon Stakes on the West Aussie. He pays tribute to favourites like Opressor, Buck’s Pride, Burdekin Blues and Consular. It still pains him, but he’s happy to talk about the “one that got away”- his desperately unlucky defeat on champion Octagonal in the 1995 Victoria Derby. Shane talks about the Ipswich “brain fade” that put him on the sidelines for a lengthy period. There’s a funny side to this disaster. He’s justifiably proud of a Brisbane jockey’s premiership in the 2008/2009 season when he had nowhere near as many rides as some of his lighter rivals. Shane closes with special mention of daughter Halle. It’s a laid back chat with a former jockey whose career would have reached dizzy heights had he been a few kgs lighter.