There is a lot of Rod Northam in apprentice Reece Jones – time, patience and skill.
From the very beginning of his career, when he had to show Jones how to put a bridle on a horse, the Scone trainer has guided him every step of the way. Now he’s putting his trust in him to pilot Spiranac to glory in the $2 million Kosciuszko at Randwick on Saturday.
Reece Jones has Spiranac in full flight as he wins the Hunter Country Championships Qualifier at Tamworth last year.Credit:Bradleys
“It’s special for me and special for him,” Northam said. “We spent five years together and to see where he is now, is very fulfilling.
“But to have him riding Spiranac, which is a mare he had a lot to do with, in The Kosciuszko when he spent so much time with me is a very proud moment.”
It has not always been smooth sailing for Northam and Jones, with the trainer once telling his apprentice during one of those frustrating moments of his development that he was not going to make it as a jockey.
“I think I said, ‘You might be better at something else’,” Northam said. “I was wrong.”
Making Jones the jockey he is today has been a team effort. In an old-fashioned move, Northam held him back from making a move to Sydney to make sure he was a polished rider when he made to the John O’Shea stable.
“He told me I might not make it at one time,” Jones said. “I just thought, ‘I’ll pick myself up and show him, and try harder and work harder’.
“Having no horse background, it took me a while to catch on. But I’m glad I stuck at. What Rod taught me about riding and racing is the basis for all my success. He has been a great mentor to me and his family has been really supportive.
Scone trainer Rod Northam looks on as Reece Jones is interviewed following a win on Spiranac.Credit:Bradleys
“One of the biggest moments of my career was winning the Hunter Country Championships qualifier on Spiranac at Tamworth, but to win a Kosciuszko would certainly be bigger than that. It would be unreal.”
Northam remembers Jones’s early days, but there was always a quality about the apprentice that made him easy to work with and special.
“He just listened and learned,” Northam said. “He was always wanting to get better. I remember the chief steward up here, Shane Cullen, telling me he will make it, when I couldn’t see it because he is a hard worker and polite.
“He never asked for more money, when he worked for me, he just went out and got a second job washing dishing at the RSL. That sort of work ethic is unusual these days.”
The results are there for all to see. Jones has ridden more than 100 winners as an apprentice in the past two seasons and got his first group win on Wild Chap in the Cameron Handicap at Newcastle last month.
But Spiranac has been the most special horse to Jones in his riding career. He rode her to win a maiden at Tamworth and within eight months he was winning the Country Championships Qualifier in March 2021.
Jones gave away for James McDonald in The Kosciuszko last year, when Spiranac was a late charging third to Art Cadeau in last year’s Kosciuszko, but he was always going to be on her in 2022.
“He just knows her so well. Spiranac goes better for him than anyone else,” Northam said. “He rode a lot of work on her early on and that always helps with a combination.
“She is a horse that needs a bit of room, so the gate [eight] was perfect and we have a rider who knows exactly where to have her and what she can do.”
Jones hadn’t been on Spiranac since he moved to Sydney before this preparation but made a special trip to Newcastle to ride her in a barrier trial before she caught the eye charging into third in a benchmark 78 to close Golden Rose day at Rosehill.
Spiranac produced the fastest final 800m of Golden Rose, running 44.26 seconds, which is a run she needed to be at her top
“Once she got balanced the other day she really found the line well and you couldn’t ask for a better performance leading into The Kosciuszko,” Jones said.
“She has always run really well for me and I have won five races on her. She will benefit from the first-up run and she will be spot on for The Kosciuszko.
“She is a horse that likes her room and then she really flattens out and she like the pressure of the race on Saturday. I know Rod will have her ready and I’m ready as well.”
