The Queensland Jockey School is set for a complete shake-up with Former South Australian apprentice academy boss Briony Moore charged with the revamp.
The initiative follows calls for reform from champion trainer Tony Gollan and former jockey Chris Munce, who agree the current program is desperate for tighter financial oversight and a more centralized employment model for our apprentices. The Queensland Jockeys Association has also supported the move towards a more professional model, calling the current program “a recipe for disaster”.
Currently, apprentices in Queensland have complete access to their prizemoney winnings immediately, a practice that has raised concerns about financial management, especially given the substantial amounts of money that a teenager is supposed to be responsible with— if you gave any of us here at Racing X upwards of 5k a week at 16, we can guarantee you that money would not be in our savings account, maybe a jetski or two perhaps?
