Harry Coffey stood up in the irons as he flashed pass the winning post to celebrate an emotional Caulfield Cup victory on Saturday, and then he took a stand for any person who has ever faced a struggle in their life.
It was a message delivered by a man who knows how to overcome adversity. From birth, Coffey has battled cystic fibrosis, a disease without a cure that wreaks havoc on the lungs.
Harry Coffey rides Duke De Sessa to victory and celebrates after passing the post.Credit: Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images
That he rides is one thing, that he has won a Caulfield Cup is nothing short of “phenomenal”.
“(This is) not just for any kid with CF (cystic fibrosis),” he said in the Caulfield mounting yard as members of the public cheered his name.
“It’s any person who has an illness that you wake up one day, and you think, how’s my day going to go today?
Harry Coffey poses with the trophy after riding Duke De Sessa to victory in the Caulfield Cup.Credit: Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images
“And you have just got to keep at it. You have the right support around you, and think of the positives – if I didn’t have cystic fibrosis, I wouldn’t have been a jockey, because it’s kept me nice and light.
“I’d prefer not to have it, but it’s a positive, so that’s what I take.”
Coffey celebrated his 29th birthday on the same day he won the Caulfield Cup, dashing to the front in the home straight on the Ciaron Maher-trained Duke De Sessa and holding off a late challenge from favourite Buckaroo.
Closing stages: Duke De Sessa holds on to win the Caulfield Cup from Buckaroo.Credit: Channel Seven
It was a poignant moment. Coffey became a jockey because his father, knockabout bushy Austy, was a trainer.
From the moment he was born, his parents never let his cruel illness define him. Not from the day their son could walk or run or ride as an apprentice at his father’s Swan Hill stable.
They treated him just as they would his younger brother, Sam. Even when the insidious cystic fibrosis robbed him of valuable breath. Even when he would disappear from the riding circuit for his regular hospital tune-ups – spending time on a ward to reboot his immune system.
“Even when I was at school or junior football, Mum and Dad would give me a hit on the bum and say, ‘go do your best, and if you are out of breath, have your Ventalin’,” Coffey said.
Not that the down-to-earth kid from the country has ever complained.
Throughout their life, Coffey and his father were often unseparable, carting horses around the country circuit from their Murray River town – Austy at the wheel of the truck, his son by his side.
Six years ago, to the day, they combined for an incredible five winners at Wycheproof. Then Coffey went one better, while his dad watched from the stands, and rode a sixth.
On days that his father did not have a runner, Coffey’s mother, Maree, would drive him to the track, wait for his rides, and then drive him home.
All these moments counted as something special as an emotional Coffey celebrated his win.
“I’m a bit overwhelmed,” he said. “I’ve grown up watching these races because I’m from a racing family.
“Even if I wasn’t a jockey, I love racing. I’m a racing fan. So I’m trying to be in the moment, but also realising it was me who achieved it. So it’s a funny thing, but it’s phenomenal. My family would be so proud.”
They would be proud. They would also have to wait until they could let him know. Coffey’s wife, Tayla, was at home with their one-year-old Tom, while his father had watched the race from Swan Hill.
“He wanted to come. He nearly caught the train this morning to come here, and I said, ‘oh, don’t worry about it, Dad’. I’ve got a few rides for him at Echuca tomorrow, so I told him to stay home and get them ready,” Coffey said.
“I’ve left him at home for each of the three group 1s that I have won, so we might have to keep doing it.
“But it’s phenomenal. You know, there’s no one who doesn’t know my story with what I’ve got. And the boys and myself joke around in the room that I’ve got half a lung, so I’m not going too bad for half a lung.”
Coffey doesn’t usually ride as low as the 52kg needed to partner Duke De Sessa in the Caulfield Cup, but said he had been able to give himself time to prepare. All that was left now, he said, was to work out how to celebrate.
“Me and Jye (McNeil) were going to have a bit of pizza and beer just to recover after riding so light, because he was riding light as well, and I sort of wasn’t going to go home,” he said.
“I’ll get home too late. Young Tom, my son will be in bed, but I don’t know. I mightn’t get to bed. I don’t know what’s gonna happen.”
Ciaron Maher’s $14 million day at the races
Andrew Wu
Trainer Ciaron Maher fulfilled the racing dreams of one of the sport’s good guys then scaled racing’s Everest, banking more than $14 million in prizemoney – and there are more riches on the way.
Time is money, they say, and rarely has any figure in the sport of kings ever won as much cash within 45 minutes as Maher did on Saturday at Caulfield and Randwick.
Gillon McLachlan congratulates trainer Ciaron Maher after Bella Nipotina’s win in The Everest.Credit: Getty Images
The boy from Warrnambool turned leviathan trainer with seven training properties throughout Victoria and NSW saddled Collingwood premiership player turned AFL match review officer Michael Christian’s Bella Nipotina to glory in The Everest, then watched from Randwick as his imported stayer Duke De Sessa ran his rivals ragged in the $5 million Caulfield Cup.
The two victories alone were worth $10 million but the kitty was further swelled by the $2 million Growing Empire cashed for running third in The Everest, the $700,000 I Am Me earned just for finishing, and Pride Of Jenni’s $850,000 for her second in the King Charles III Stakes.
In all, Maher’s runners in Melbourne and Sydney won an eye boggling $14.324 million, an indication of not only how much prizemoney there is on offer now in Australian racing but also the horsemanship and business acumen of one of the country’s best trainers.
Next week in the $5 million Cox Plate, he has one of the country’s most popular horses Pride Of Jenni, which tuned up for Australasia’s weight-for-age championship with a gallant second over Randwick’s famous mile.
The mare, famous for her bold racing style which often sees her with large mid-race leads, is the $5 third favourite after holding off all but Ceolwulf.
