Dan Morgan to make return at Pioneer Park on Saturday

[Wandering Eyes]

Dan Morgan celebrating a winner at Pioneer Park in Alice Springs. After taking an extended break, the jockey returns to the saddle in the Red Centre this weekend. Picture: Nikki Westover Photography

There was a time when Dan Morgan couldn’t wait to have a break from racing as jockey, but now he can’t wait to return to the saddle.

The 28-year-old makes his comeback at the Alice Springs Turf Club’s meeting at Pioneer Park on Saturday.

Morgan, the Alice Springs and Provincial apprentice of the year for the 2019/20 season with 18 winners, has three rides on the five-event program.

There won’t be any time to rest on his laurels either as Morgan has a ride in the opening three races.

Kym Hann’s Elmore Lad, fresh from a last start win in Darwin, will line up in the opening race over 1200m (0-64) with Morgan on board in what will most likely be the eight-year-old gelding’s fifth and final start in the NT before heading home to Bendigo in Victoria.

Elmore Lad was a $2.25 second favourite on Friday night with the Lisa Whittle-trained Like A Heartbeat (Sonja Wiseman) quoted as the $1.80 first pick.

Hopefully, Morgan will have eradicated all the rust from his system by the time the second race rolls along as it’s the feature, an open handicap over 1100m which has attracted a host of handy sprinters.

Devil’s Temptation ($7.50), a six-year-old gelding from the Jess Gleeson stable in the Red Centre, will be Morgan’s mount after a last start 11th in the $135,000 Palmerston Sprint (1200m) on July 30 during the Darwin Cup Carnival.

Arriving from Queensland around Easter, Devil’s Temptation starred on debut in open company during the Alice Springs Cup Carnival with victory in the prestigious “The Soldier” Lightning (1000m) before a disappointing 10th in the $100,000 Pioneer Sprint (1200m) on Cup Day on May 1.

A seventh in open company over 1000m in late May followed before the former Sunshine State galloper unfortunately lost his rider Casey Hunter in yet another open handicap over 1200m on June 19.

Bouncing back to form with a second over 1100m (0-76) on July 3, Devil’s Temptation headed to the Top End for the Darwin Cup Carnival where he won on his Fannie Bay debut on July 16 at weight-for-age level over 1200m before contesting the Palmerston Sprint.

The Will Savage-trained Speed Wheel will be Morgan’s final engagement against Class 2 opposition over 1100m and the $9.50 hope isn’t out of the equation after winning two weeks ago in a 1200m maiden.

The four-year-old mare, who raced mainly in Victoria before winding up in Central Australia, finished second in a 1200m maiden when she first graced Pioneer Park on July 17.

“I think Elmore Lad in the first, he’s going to be a really good chance,” Morgan said on Friday.

“He’s been in great form in Darwin – he’s been knocking on the door, especially with his last start win obviously which was very tough I thought.

“In a small field, I think he will be very hard to beat.

“The open sprint, it’s obviously a pretty open race – there’s a lot of sharp horses in there.
“Devil’s Temptation is a really slick horse on his day and the wide barrier won’t do him any harm either.

“I’m looking forward to Saturday – I’ve got butterflies in my belly to be honest and I’m really keen to get back out there.”

Morgan, who last rode during the 2020/21 season, is from Auckland in New Zealand and had stints in South Australia and on the Gold Coast before arriving in the NT where he continued his apprenticeship with Alice Springs trainer Greg Connor.

“I was coming up here to ride a little bit when I was in South Australia,” he said.

“I wasn’t really getting much of a go down there, so I thought I’d take the jump.

“Four of five years ago now that I came up here – I cut my teeth here and made a life.”

There’s no denying the fact that Morgan won his fair share of races – 45 to be exact in the Alice Springs and Provincial premiership and an additional five up in Darwin.

So why did he give it away?

“To be honest, I was probably having the best season of my career,” Morgan said.

“I was getting a lot of good opportunities and I was riding quite well.

“But my weight was becoming a real issue and it was a strain on my body both mentally and physically.

“I just needed a break.

“I got to the point where I wasn’t enjoying it anymore and I love horses too much to be doing the job in that state of mind.”

So why did he decide to return?

“I took the opportunity to head to Darwin for the Cup Carnival for Greg (Connor) with a small team,” Morgan said.

“I had kept in touch with Greg – he has been a good mentor to me in racing and in life.

“We kept in contact while I was having a break.

“I think that really set the fire back in my belly.

“Playing trainer and watching from the sidelines made me really want to get back into it and have a go myself.”

Resuming his career as a jockey is clearly a high priority, but Morgan was basically Connor’s foreman in Darwin and it’s a responsibility he thoroughly enjoys.

That might well be a fulltime vocation in the future with Morgan also considering life as a trainer when his riding days finally draw to a close.
“I really enjoyed my foreman role in Darwin and obviously here now also,” he said.

“I definitely thought Darwin was an eye-opener for me to be flying solo and sort of taking charge of the team.

“Greg and I communicated pretty closely throughout the whole process.

“Greg trusts me and he pretty well left me alone – I fairly well know the routine.

“That’s definitely a career path I’m looking in to and also training on my own one day.”

The two horses Morgan accompanied to Darwin were Flying Start, who won the NT Guineas (1600m) in the Red Centre by eight lengths on April 16, and the maiden Bold Tropic.

In his first two starts in the Top End against fellow three-year-olds, Flying Start finished second over 1300m (0-66) before finishing a disappointing seventh in the $75,000 Darwin Guineas (1600m).

The son of Flying Artie, who won his first three starts in the Alice in April after arriving from Victoria, then won a $40,000 race for the three-year-olds over 1200m (0-68) before celebrating his fourth birthday with a win in a $30,000 race for the open class over 1300m on Cup Day on August 1.

To supervise Flying Start’s success at Fannie Bay is certainly a feather in Morgan’s cap and perhaps a training career in the future beckons.

Jessie Philpot, who has ridden Flying Start in each of his seven NT starts, is now the first choice rider for the Connor stable and Morgan wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Jessie is definitely No.1 – I am the spare fella,” he said.

“I’ll be working for Greg, but I’ll definitely be doing my own thing with my rides – doing some freelance.

“Given my break, I’ve had that time to think and I think I will be staying here long term.

“I will be staying on as Greg’s foreman for now, anyway, and we’ll see how we go with that.

“That will be up to him I suppose, but I love my job.”

Finally, Morgan was happy to assist other trainers when available during the Darwin Cup Carnival and played his part when Casey Hunter piloted First Crusade home to make it a first ever win for the Top End’s Chloe Baxter – who also owns the horse.

“I strapped Chloe’s first winner for her, so that was a big thrill for both of us,” he said.

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