Racing: Greatest thrill was passing the post first in the Cox Plate

Johnny Riordan says he's never regretted moving to the Gold Coast. Photo / NZ Herald

If you had to guess Johnny Riordan's age on the phone today you'd probably say around 40.

The former Te Awamutu jockey is 74, living on the Gold Coast and loving it.

So much is he embracing life these days, Riordan could almost pass as a motivational speaker.

"My wife [Pam] and I do a lot of walking in the mornings. We meet the oldies and force them to laugh. I just tell everyone, get a life and laugh."

That wasn't always easy for Riordan. He was three when his father died and the youngest of 10 children - six under 16. Despite the hardship in the New Plymouth home, Riordan says the family had fun.

"And we were never hungry.

"Why can't kids of today behave themselves? We did it pretty tough and still didn't think we were badly off.

"I was 11 when Des, Noel [brothers] and I left home to join the Te Awamutu stable of Jack McDonald."

It was around the time McDonald prepared the mighty Mainbrace.

Riordan quickly adapted to the life of a jockey, winning his first race as a 14-year-old while still at school on the McDonald-trained Roiata at 34 to 1.

He took the national apprentices' premiership in a middle year by two wins from Donny Campbell.

But it was the years with Bill Sanders after he left McDonald at the completion of his apprenticeship during which he flourished.

A chance meeting with Te Aroha trainer Dave Arnott at Tauranga races the week before Easter set his career train rolling properly.

"Easter Saturday at Ellerslie used to clash with Rotorua and I'd taken seven rides for Rotorua.

"Dave Arnott approached me and asked if I could wait until Monday for the possible ride on Marie Brizard in the Easter Handicap.

"I got the ride on the Monday, got off all seven horses at Rotorua and won the Easter on Marie Brizard. That really set my riding career up.

"Two days after the Easter, on the Monday, she won the Nolan Handicap with nine stone four [59kg]. No other horse had ever won the two races in the same year.

"She wasn't very big, but boy she had a big heart."

Eight months later Riordan won the Auckland Cup on Marie Brizard.

Riordan was starting to get better rides and landed the mount on one of the best he was associated with, Summer Regent.

"He was trained by Ray Cotter and owned by Ron Walker, a lovely man who was president of the Waikato Racing Club."

At a time when New Zealand jockeys were treated as a joke in Australia, Riordan crossed the Tasman to ride Summer Regent in the Cox Plate.

"They reckoned we were all mugs. They told me Grenville Hughes was an idiot and I said if you think that then you've all got to be idiots.

To the day I retired Grenville remained one of the best I rode against."

Riordan says in the wake of all that his greatest career thrill was passing the post first on Summer Regent in the Cox Plate.

"When we were coming back to scale I heard this woman yell out over the birdcage rail: 'They said you couldn't ride - you can ride all right'."

Summer Regent started favourite for that year's (1963) Melbourne Cup, but Riordan says the classy stayer was stood on his head soon after the start and was afterwards unable to get back into the race.

He later won an Auckland Cup on Sailing Home and a host of races for Bill Sanders, including a string of successes on horses like March Legend and Ballybrit.

"Ballybrit was the fastest horse I rode. We won a 2-year-old race at Trentham one day and he carried over 10 stone [63.5kg]."

Brothers Noel and Des remain in the Waikato, both retired from racing.

Johnny Riordan rode his last race in 1977 and says he's never regretted moving to the Gold Coast 14 years ago.

"Three of my four kids are here in Queensland and the other one is a policeman in Rotorua."

Playing indoor bowls and attending cabaret shows takes up most of the Riordan time these days.

And forcing people to laugh.