NT jockey on verge of setting milestones

[Wandering Eyes]

Paul Shiers, who has carved a highly successful career as a jockey in Darwin, returning to scale after landing yet another winner at Fannie Bay. Picture: Caroline Camilleri (Darwin Photography Professionals)

Highly-experienced NT jockey Paul Shiers has a full book of rides on the five-event card at Darwin on Saturday, and he only has to get one win to make it 400 career wins.

After 2486 races, he has saluted on 399 occasions.

Should he get three winners he’ll celebrate 300 winners in the Top End.

Shiers, 50, is riding as well as ever and celebrates 34 years in the saddle after debuting as a 15-year-old apprentice in Corowa in southern NSW.

He had his first ride at Towong, located in north-eastern Victoria, when his mount Royal Discount finished fifth on February 6, 1988.

Along the journey, Shiers has ridden in Melbourne and Adelaide – as well as at regional locations in Victoria, South Australia, NSW and Western Australia.

Arriving in the Top End some 25 years ago, he has been a regular fixture at Fannie Bay and has appeared at other NT venues Alice Springs, Adelaide River, Katherine and Tennant Creek.

Apart from his race-day and track-work commitments, Shiers also works fulltime for a steel products business in Darwin as a storeman.

These days it’s unlike Shiers to miss a Darwin meeting, but that wasn’t the case a few years ago when he battled to control his weight during the wet season as the humidity intensified.

Subsequently, he would miss a couple of months at the end and at the start of the year electing to ride predominately during the dry season.

Hence, that probably explains why it has taken him so long to reach 400 winners, but rest assured his strike rate, especially during the Darwin Cup Carnival, is outstanding.

He has won the Darwin Guineas nine times, the NT Derby seven times and the Palmerston Sprint four times, as well as the Chief Ministers Cup and Metric Mile once.

Shiers has yet to win the Darwin Cup, but he has come awfully close.

He has finished second aboard Delway (2004), Sacred Shield (2006) and Hawks Bay (2009 and 2010), and third on Brad Star (2007) and Blackbriar (2011).

Shiers won the Chief Ministers Cup (1600m) on Lightinthenite in 2015, only to lose the ride in the Darwin Cup (2000m) a few weeks later to Hugh Bowman.

Lightinthenite not only won the Cup by nine lengths, but he also set a new track record for the 2000m (2.00.23) – while Shiers finished seventh on the Gai Waterhouse-trained Travolta.

Shiers’ recent winners in other Darwin features include Enigman in the Palmerston (2020), Budget King in the Derby (2020), Poet’s Landing in the Guineas (2019) and Austpak in the Metric Mile (2007).

He won the Palmerston three years in a row for the late Alice Springs trainer Nev Connor when he piloted Jade City (2007 and 2008) and Far Horizons (2009).

If that isn’t enough Shiers has ridden the first two legs of the Triple Crown on no less than four occasions, with Brad Star (2007), Hawks Bay (2009), Host Of The Party (2013) and Poet’s Landing (2019) all winning the Guineas and Derby before falling short in the Darwin Cup.

He also won the Alice Springs Cup as recently as 2020 on Lotion, and in the Red Centre’s Pioneer Sprint he has finished second on Eastwood (2022) and fourth on Handsome Tycoon (2017).

Shiers (30.5) finished second behind Jarrod Todd (44) in the Top End and Country jockey’s premiership for the 2021/22 season and so far this season he has landed six winners to sit third behind three-time champion Todd (11) and Sonja Wiseman (9).

Suffice to say, the long-serving jockey is well respected among his peers, including leading Darwin trainer Gary Clarke, a former jockey, who had endless battles with Shiers.

“He’s been a good jockey in the Territory for a long time, he’s ridden for me quite a bit over the years,” Clarke said.

“I’d have to rate him as one of the best locals that I’ve had ride for me.

“He’s consistency cannot be questioned – as far as a jockey goes he very seldom puts in a bad ride.

“You can rest easy when you’ve got him on your horse.

“You don’t even have to give him instructions.

“As good jockeys are, he’s clearly one of them.

“You don’t tell them how to ride, they know what they’re doing.”

Shiers is handy to have as your rider during Carnival, but Clarke considers him to be the consummate professional regardless of the horse he partners or the race he contests.

“He sure has got a great record in the big races during Carnival,” the 10-time winning Top End and Country trainer said.

“He’s got a phenomenal record on three-year-olds, but overall he’s got a very low error mark.

“Paul just gives his horses every chance – if they’re good enough they’ll get there.

“Knows where to put his horses, he’s a good man to have on board when the better races come around I can tell you.”

And according to Clarke, Shiers is showing no signs of slowing day.

“He’s going to have to pull up shortly, I suppose, he’s already reached the half way mark,” Clarke laughed.

“Paul’s a good fella, we’ve been friends for a lot of years.

“I rode against him and then he rode for me.

“Despite the ups and downs in the racing game, we’ve still remained friends for a long time.”

Paul Shiers’ rides at Darwin on October 22

• Race 1 – #6 The Kid ($3)
• Race 2 – #1 Yowza ($2.60)
• Race 3 – #2 Ideas Man ($4.60)
• Race 4 – #2 Don’t Wait ($9.50)
• Race 5 – #4 Prince Ruban ($3.20)

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