Stan Tsiakos gearing up for Alice Springs Cup Carnival

[Wandering Eyes]

Geelong-based jockey Stan Tsaikos, a regular rider in the Northern Territory over the years, returns to the mounting yard at Pioneer Park in Alice Springs after getting the cash on Bench Press for Red Centre trainer Terry Gillett.

He continues to clock up the frequent flyer points, but Geelong-based jockey Stan Tsaikos is once again looking forward to the two big Cup carnivals in the Northern Territory.

The Alice Springs Cup Carnival kicks off next Saturday, April 8, followed by the Darwin Cup Carnival starting July 8.

There’s also Cup Day at Tennant Creek (May 13), Adelaide River (June 3) and Katherine (August 19) where Tsaikos, who started riding in Victoria over 25 years ago, plans to make an appearance.

Tsaikos, 45, has trekked to the NT for the past six years, and although he has yet to claim the Cup or Sprint in Darwin and Alice Springs, he has won his share of feature races.

They include the NT Guineas (1600m) in Alice Springs on Valley Prince and the Metric Mile (1600m) in Darwin on That’s Justified in 2021 for Red Centre trainer Terry Gillett.

He won the 2021 Tennant Creek Cup (1600m) on Lord Smedley for former Alice Springs trainer Sarah Robbins and the 2022 Adelaide River Cup (1600m) on Our Destrier for Bendigo trainer Kym Hann in Darwin.

Adelaide River’s grassed track was not fit for racing last year, but – like everyone who supports NT racing – Tsaikos awaits making the 100km trip down the Stuart Highway from Darwin for the Adelaide River Show Society Race Club’s big day.

READ: Adelaide River races heading to Darwin due to track issues

Tsaikos – the champion jockey in the Alice Springs premiership for the past two years – encourages interstate racing fans to add Darwin, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Adelaide River and Katherine to their “bucket list”.

“The Alice carnival starts next week, while Darwin, Tennant Creek, Adelaide River and Katherine Cups aren’t far away, and I’m absolutely looking forward to them,” he said.

“Alice Springs and Darwin are great carnivals, hopefully I’ll line up a few nice rides and fingers crossed they both prove good carnivals.

“I would recommend both carnivals to anyone – Alice Springs and Darwin Cup Days are big and they’re always a great turn out.

“It’s a good atmosphere, and it’s a wonderful time of year to be where the sun is shining and be out of the cold and the rain from down south.

“There’s a lot of on-course activities for the family and both clubs do a fantastic job come carnival.”

Tsaikos, who also rides regularly in Tasmania and has six rides at Launceston on Wednesday night, is also happy to ride at Tennant Creek, Adelaide River and Katherine.

“I’ve only experienced those tracks for the last couple of seasons – they’re pretty good for one day a year meetings,” he said.

“No matter the venue, it’s a great country day of racing – you even have racegoers camping at Adelaide River overnight.

“Heading to those tracks for the first time was an eye-opener and it’s good to see all the country people getting around the club and supporting their annual meeting.

“Just good for the town and the community – lots of people, marques and tents.”

Tsaikos returns from Tasmania on Thursday before boarding a flight the same day from Melbourne for the Darwin meeting on Friday and Alice Springs meeting on Saturday.

It can be tiring and he accepts that it won’t last forever, but Tsaikos, who picks up the occasional booking in Victoria, enjoys riding in the NT and Tasmania.

“Yeah, absolutely, which might be hard to believe,” he said.

“I basically have three bases because of the constant travelling up north and to Alice Springs.

“I’ve got a property here in Victoria and I came back down for Christmas.

“Prior to that I’d be up in Darwin for over 12 months, so I’m coming and going.

“It kind of gives you the best of both worlds really.

“You can duck out of Victoria in the next couple of weeks and head to where the weather is warm.

“Then come the wet season in Darwin when it gets a little bit too humid and rains every second day you can skip back down to Victoria and enjoy the summer.

“The carnival in Tasmania is over, so there’s not too many night meetings on down there.

“I’ve done the carnival down there for probably the last five or six years.

“I enjoy going down there and riding for the trainers and owners – they’re laid-back and a great bunch of people.

“Tasmania will keep racing now on the synthetic track at Devonport.

“I haven’t had too many rides in Victoria recently – right now I’m mainly focussing on the Alice Springs and Darwin carnivals.”

A regular rider for the Gillett stable in Alice Springs and the Chris Pollard stable in Darwin, Tsaikos has ridden nine winners at Pioneer Park and 10 winners at Fannie Bay this season.

Respectable numbers, but last season no other NT jockey had more success than Tsaikos after he booted home 35 winners in the Red Centre and 18 winners in the Top End.

Tsaikos rates the Gillett-trained five-year-old gelding Bench Press, who boasts a record of 13: 6-5-1 in Alice and whom he has ridden to victory on four occasions in 10 starts.

In Darwin, the Pollard-trained Cudjerie excites Tsaikos – he partnered the four-year-old mare in the first four of her six wins and she could make an impact come carnival.

Cudjerie picked up $4,000 for Pollard and his owners recently after topping the pointscore in the 2022/23 Summer Sprint Series.

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