'Aussie Tom' Is A Pom At Heart

“It ended up being a pretty good day,” says Tom Marquand with no little understatement.

The day in question came less than a fortnight ago in Australia when the English jockey landed his first Group 1 victory aboard the William Haggas-trained Addeybb (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) in the Ranvet S. That same afternoon at Rosehill, Marquand also guided Addeybb's stable-mate Young Rascal (Fr) (Intello {Ger}) to glory in the G3 Manion Cup. With Australian racing currently taking place behind closed doors, there was no thunderous applause to herald Marquand's breakthrough moment, but the plaudits have been ringing out across the racing press and on social media ever since, and deservedly so.

That big-race double had followed his Group 3 strike the previous weekend for Ciaron Maher and David Eustace in the Pago Pago S. with Prague (Aus) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}). Last Saturday Marqand struck again for the training duo when winning the G3 TL Baillieu H. on Holyfield (Aus) (I Am Invincible {Aus}), swiftly followed by victory in the G3 Star Kingdom S. for Anthony Cummings with Vegadaze (Aus) (Lope De Vega {Ire}).

Since then the jockey, now dubbed 'Aussie Tom' by his rising fanbase down under, celebrated his 22^nd birthday on Monday and, while he is suspended this weekend, thus missing a high-profile ride on Super Seth (Aus) (Dundeel {NZ}) in the G1 Doncaster Mile, he will be renewing his partnerships with Addeybb and Young Rascal during the second weekend of Sydney's Championships. The latter is currently favourite for the G1 Sydney Cup, while Addeybb is entered for the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S., and the wet-tracker's connections will doubtless be hoping that the rain that has been falling in Sydney this week continues a while yet.

Racing at Rosehill was in fact abandoned after one race on Wednesday owing to heavy rain, but a far greater threat hangs over the continuation of racing amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“I was pretty doubtful a week ago that racing would go ahead but it looks now like we might make it through the Championships and even carry on after that,” says Marquand, who returned to Australia in mid-March with the lure of some decent rides. “While I was out here last year, and through this January and February, I really enjoyed it, whereas this time around it's been a bit trickier because of what's going on at home.”

Though rightly grabbing the opportunity with both hands, Marquand admits to a little disquiet in these unsettling times, particularly while being on the other side of the world to his partner and fellow jockey Hollie Doyle.

“Being away from family and from Hollie, it's had quite a different feel to it this time. Obviously the riding side has been fantastic, but just being around here generally has been a lot harder. While things are going smoothly it's easy to be away because everyone is preoccupied and busy, and they're not focusing on the fact that you're away, whereas at the moment there's not an awful lot else to think about.”

Marquand's focus for the next week will be on increasing his tally of Group 1 wins. He has two willing accomplices in the Haggas duo, both of whom posted battling performances to win their previous starts under rides which came in for plenty of praise. The man in the saddle, however, remains typically modest in the face of this tide.

“Obviously every jockey wants to be on the world stage and by complete default I've ended up being on the world stage because it's the only stage there is at the moment,” he says. “It's really just by complete chance that it's happened. Obviously it was a massive opportunity getting to ride Addeybb and Young Rascal. It was a bold shout from William to send them down anyway, and then putting me on added another dimension to it again. He could easily have used Australian jockeys. I'm really fortunate to be on the receiving end when someone like that puts their confidence in you.”

Despite his protestations, Marquand's Australian success is no fluke. Since being crowned champion apprentice in Britain in 2015, his annual tally of wins has risen progressively to a career-high in 2019 of 136, just 20 ahead of Doyle who set a new record for female jockeys in Britain with 116 wins. Marquand was fourth overall in the British jockeys' table behind Oisin Murphy, Danny Tudhope and Ben Curtis, and Doyle was ninth.

Marquand says, “At home I've been very fortunate to ride quite a lot of winners in the last few years but there's an element always of, well it's great riding lots of winners but no one's watching Chepstow when Royal Ascot is on. That's hopefully the way I want to send it now, being at the big days, and hopefully this [success in Australia] is a step in the right direction.”

He continues, “I had last winter in Australia and I really enjoyed it. I had a taste of success then but this time it has been a whole different level coming back. I went back thinking that though it won't quite be starting from scratch I've been away for 10 months and I thought it would take a while to get back going again in Australia. But my first weekend here all of the trainers and owners who had used me before stuck me straight back on nice horses and it made that transition really easy.”

Currently riding at a 19% strike-rate, five of Marquand's 24 wins this winter have come for John O'Shea, who left his position as Godolphin's Australian trainer back in 2017.

“John O'Shea has been very pivotal in what I've been doing,” Marquand says. “He's the one I initially came over for and obviously he was with Godolphin before and he has spent the last three years building up his own stable. He's built it from the ground up and I enjoy being involved with someone like that. And he's put me on horses when he could have had plenty of other people on them.”

Flights permitting, Aussie Tom will soon be Tom the Pom again. The jockey is planning to attempt to return to Britain after the second day of the Championships on Apr. 11 but concedes he may have to stay on a little longer.

“It's tricky because I don't know really what's going to happen and there are fewer flights by the day,” he says. “There's no point in stressing about it that much. Either I get to come home and complete my quarantine before the English racing starts again or I get to stay here and ride another week.

“Obviously it's the same job here and the aim is the same but you have to go about it in a very different way. I know I've certainly benefited from it in the fact that when I come home I ride a lot differently without even trying to because of the way you adapt your style here.”

While Marquand has spent much of his winter in warmer climes, Doyle opted to slog it out in the cold and has been rewarded for her efforts by 35 wins so far in 2020, with only Ben Curtis and Luke Morris having notched a higher number.

Marquand will be playing catch up on his return but he insists, “We're not in the slightest bit competitive with each other. I think it's a big let-down for everyone really because they expect us to be, but we just get on with it.”

He adds, “Last year was fantastic for Hollie, it went so well, and she decided to stay in Britain to ride through the winter. She rode a lot of winners while racing was going ahead—and I know it's hit everyone hard—but I know she was hoping to carry on that momentum through to the turf season. So with racing stopping it has felt like more of a blow to her than it has to me because I was away and I've been fortunate that I have carried on riding. To work all through the winter and start to look forward to the season and then for there to be nothing is quite hard.”

Whenever racing does resume in Britain, Marquand is looking forward to renewing his ties with Richard Hannon, to whom he was apprenticed when he won the championship, and Hannon's former assistant Tom Ward who is now training in his own right.

“We live in Hungerford, so we're near Lambourn because Hollie is in Archie Watson's stable four days a week,” he explains. “I still spend a bit of time at Richard Hannon's, and I go in and gallop for Tom Ward because of all the help he gave me over the last few years at Richard's. I'm also going to be trying to spend a bit more time in Newmarket because that's where a lot of my support is coming from now, from William Haggas and James Fanshawe, and there have been a number of other trainers who have put me up. It may mean extra time on the road but no one minds working at it as long as it's worth it.”

With a work ethic to match his ability in the saddle, Marquand is fast developing into one of the most sought-after young jockeys on either side of the world. Stand by for some more pretty good days.