THE handicapper holds no fears for Swan Hill jockey Harry Coffey.
After a week of sweating, jogging (in 40-degree heat), dieting and dreaming, the 28-year-old finally won his second Group 1 race.
A naturally light rider at 54kg, Coffey still had to shed 2kg to make the ride on the South Australian roughie Queman in the $750,000 Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield at the weekend.
The effort might have taken a fair bit out of him, but was nothing compared to the effort it had taken to first get Coffey on a horse – and then keep him there.
It’s a lifelong battle Coffey would prefer was privately fought – his diagnosis at just six-weeks-old with cystic fibrosis and his determination it would not be what defined his life.
The condition has never been used as an excuse.
In an interview with The Age late last year, Coffey conceded he didn’t really like the “sick kid” tag that dogged his early career.
“But as I’ve matured, I’ve come to understand it’s not about me,” he said at the time.
Now married to Tayla and father to 10-month-old Thomas, he told the paper he was aware his story provided inspiration to many other families who have children with cystic fibrosis.
“I think there’s a lot of people with CF, especially families with CF, who follow my story and like to see me do well,” he said.
But in all this drama there have been a few realities that held Coffey back – such as COVID.
When it struck, racing had a masterplan to ensure it stayed in business and would keep trainers, owners and jockeys on the payroll and all meetings in business.
Coffey was hot at the time, but with 100 wins for the season within reach, he had to walk away for fear of the unknown, not knowing whether he would be sick every week.
He takes Trikafta, a wonder drug for people with CF.
It tricks the body into thinking it has a gene it is actually missing and Coffey calls it his “absolute game-changer”.
“It’s two tablets in the morning and a tablet at night, and I wouldn’t be able to do the workload I am currently doing if I was not as healthy as what I am now.”
Most likely he wouldn’t be as successful either, despite his oversupply of true grit. He wouldn’t be getting Melbourne Cup rides, wouldn’t be getting as many shots at Group 1 races, and wouldn’t be increasingly the choice of superstar stables.
The latest win was as much a relief as it was a personal triumph.
It had been six years since that first big win, the Australasian Oaks at Morphettville in Adelaide in 2018, and Coffey was beginning to wonder if it had “been a fluke after all”.
He’s not wondering now.
Queman’s trainer Shane Oxlade, based at Strathalbyn on SA’s Fleurieu Peninsula, brought the horse to Melbourne in January with the listed $175,000 W.J. Adams Stakes at Caulfield on Australia Day in his sights.
He gave Coffey the ride, they won, and the rest is history.
Instead of heading home, Oxlade decided to put the Oakleigh Plate on the hit list.
“In the Oakleigh, Queman was drawn to run the race of his life, and his form was really good going in,” Oxlade said.
“Whether he would be good enough to win I didn’t know but he did run the race of his life and we pulled it off.
“I like Harry, always have. He rode for me when he was an apprentice and you want someone who is going to go out and do the right thing, and give your horse a genuine chance – and I thought he would do that in the Adams.
“And once he won on him you weren’t going to take him off.
“Winning the Adams got him automatic entry to the Oakleigh and we weren’t going to pass up on that.”
Oxlade said Coffey gave Queman the perfect ride as he was able to secure a spot just off the speed.
Coffey recalled Queman was a bit slow to begin, which Oxlade had warned him about, but this worked out well for them.
“For a race full of fast horses it wasn’t a big rush, so I was able to have a couple of strides to get into gear. I worked my way forward and I decided to follow Blake Shinn on Najem Suhail and that played out for me.
“He’s a big, powerful sprinter. He’s against some of the fastest horses in Victoria and he handled them with ease.
“I was pretty sure I had them covered before the 400m but in the straight it looked a lot easier than it turned out to be.”
In the Adams, Coffey said, Queman “just did it with a lot of ease … and just from the 600 onwards I knew I was going to win that race and I was quite taken with that”.
“I just thought to myself, ‘he’ll get the minimum’ (in the Oakleigh).
“My manager and I spoke about it and really pushing hard to keep the ride. Shane and Cassie (his daughter and co-trainer) were loyal to me and I’m greatly appreciative of that.
“Winning this Group 1 has been such a huge thrill … I’ve had that feeling before but I wanted to do it again, so hopefully they flow on a bit now.”
