Kildare jockey Robbie Dolan has won a second Metropolitan Apprentice Premiership title in Sydney, New South Wales, joining an elite group of young riders to claim the title twice.
The Irish rider, who achieved 31 wins this current season, took to social media to comment on his success, stating:
“(It) was an honour to win this title once and I have worked very hard on my riding to win it again, I would like to thank my boss Mark Newnham and manager Wayne Harris for all the support and guidance and also a shout-out to the jockeys in the room for all the help along the way, to my partner Christine Duffy for keeping me level headed on the good days and cheering me up on the bad days I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Dolan was reared in horse racing as his maternal grandfather, Peadar Matthews, won two classics as a jockey, while his father Bobby was a jockey and worked with Dermot Weld, where he looked after Grey Swallow, who won the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby.
Having worked in Ireland with Paul Deegan and Adrian Keatley, Dolan was advised by his coach Warren O’Connor to try his luck Australia in 2016, and has now go on to win two apprentice titles since moving there.
Dolan, who last year achieved 48 winners, has followed the example of Kerry-born British Champion flat jockey Oisín Murphy in recent times by giving popular post-race debriefs on Twitter.
