Episode 592: Koby Jennings - Tall and talented jockey tries something different during a break from race riding. He’s back in his native Traralgon.

A calm and composed riding technique with a demeanour to match, are the attributes that have endeared Koby Jennings to many trainers in his fifteen year career. After spending the latter part of his apprenticeship in Sydney the heavyweight rider joined the fully fledged ranks knowing his opportunities would be restricted by weight. Nevertheless he rode winners consistently, earning the respect of some of Sydney’s most astute trainers. Koby’s CV is highlighted by wins in a Provincial Championship Final and a Golden Eagle. Two years ago he returned to his hometown of Traralgon and the winners have continued to flow across the region. He’s currently taking a break from the sweat box and trying his hand as a businessman. He’s on the podcast this week to bring us up to date. Koby begins by assuring us that he has no intention of abandoning his beloved thoroughbreds. In fact he’s still riding regular trackwork. He talks of his association with Will Hayes who runs Lindsay Park’s Pakenham stables.  Koby says it took an age for him to get any traction among the Victorian riding ranks when he relocated from Sydney two years ago.   The 31 year old outlines the reasons for his current absence from the race riding ranks. The heavyweight jockey talks about his acquisition of a Jim’s Mowing franchise in Traralgon West. He looks forward to the challenge. Koby takes us back to his original apprenticeship to his late grandfather and the excitement of his first race ride. He says it took him a long time to crack it for that elusive first win. He reflects on that unforgettable day at Stony Creek. The jockey looks back on a loan-out to Darwin trainer Stephen Brown and an exciting eighteen months in the Top End. Also in Darwin was jockey Carl Spry who later got an opportunity in Canberra. Koby says he decided to go with Carl and was fortunate to get a start with trainer Mark Schmetzer who supported him admirably. He talks of a brief stint with the Jones/Joseph team in Canberra which preceded a move to Randwick trainer Kevin Moses. He talks of the valued tutorship from the former ace jockey.  Koby looks back on his chance meeting with a young Dutch girl who was working for Anthony Cummings at the same time. Koby and Nerissa are nowadays the proud parents of son Declan and daughter Riley. He looks back on time spent with Jim and Greg Lee in the latter stages of his apprenticeship.  He reflects on one special day towards the end of his junior term when he won four races for different stables at a Rosehill Gardens Saturday meeting. Koby talks of happy associations with several prominent stables, and pays tribute to the trainers in question. He looks back on a thrilling two year old win on the Gold Coast for trainer Nathan Doyle and a Calibre Syndication ownership group. Koby says his association with Doyle continued after his  move back to Victoria. The jockey looks back on his association with Bobbing, a horse who qualified for the Provincial Championship despite a serious setback. He looks back on the gelding’s huge effort to win the $500,000 Final. He acknowledges the training performance by Bernie Kelly. Koby takes us through the “before and after” of his unexpected Golden Eagle win on Colette in the Godolphin colours.  He remembers two stakes wins on the John Sargent trained Luvaluva and a surprise trip to NZ to ride the mare in a Gr 1 event at Te Rapa. In a complete change of direction Koby talks of his passion for deep sea fishing and the fibre glass boat he treated like a prized thoroughbred. He looks back on fishing expeditions many kilometres from home base. He pays tribute to his trainer father Troy who’s continuing to train a small team of horses despite ongoing health issues.  It’s a nice yarn with a very disciplined  heavyweight jockey who hasn’t squandered an opportunity in his fifteen years of race riding.  You can’t help but get the feeling his career isn’t over yet.