The Ricky Duggan story - Part 2

Ricky Duggan has been a prominent fixture in Tasmanian harness racing for over 30 years and in 2014 was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

In part 1 of this multi-part series by Jamie Cockshutt they discussed Ricky’s introduction into harness racing, and part 2 looks at the people and horses that have made Ricky Duggan a household name.

Phillip “Dicky” Aylett

While he was still with Eric Fleming, Ricky formed an association with trainer Phillip “Dicky” Aylett which led to him being given the opportunity to drive two of the most gifted pacers that he ever had the privilege to sit behind.

“I was very fortunate to drive some quality horses for Dicky as he always had handy types coming through the ranks with the likes of Mandasha, Jumpin Joe and numerous other very handy horses but the two standouts were the full brothers in Kotare Kiwi and Classic Kiwi,” Ricky said.

The chestnut colt Kotare Kiwi returned close to $200,000 in prizemoney from his 94 career starts.

“Kotare Kiwi was another very smart type Phillip trained who won 35 races (in Tasmania) and I was able to drive him to 15 of those wins.

“One of my feature wins was the Tasmanian Pacing Mile where he beat the likes of Franco Tiger and Swishinon,” said Duggan fondly.

In a brilliant career, he captured the 1989 Tasmanian Derby along with the three-year-old and four-year-old Sires Stakes when driven by Neville Welsh.

Kotare Kiwi’s brother Classic Kiwi’s career unfortunately was cut much shorter due to a tragic accident that claimed his life, but he was a winner at 12 of his 17 starts.

“Classic Kiwi was one of the most gifted pacers I ever got to sit behind. I drove him in 11 of his 12 victories,” said Duggan on the colt who’s feature wins included the Breeders Plate, Diamond Stakes and the Dandy Patch Final as a two-year-old.

Looking back on his time with Dicky Aylett, Duggan recalls the racing calendar was a lot different to what it is these days.

“We used to have runners at the Boxing Day meeting in Hobart then immediately after we had finished our commitments at Hobart, we would hop straight in Dicky’s car to drive up to the Devonport Boxing Night meeting as Dicky would have runners up there as well.

“I told you I used to do plenty of travelling in my early years,” laughed Ricky.

Eric Jacobson

It did not take Ricky long to make a success of it as a freelance reinsman but one trainer in particular was very supportive during this period.

“Not long after I made the decision to become a freelance driver, I was the given opportunity to become stable driver for another man who means a lot to me in Eric “Dukey” Jacobson,” recalled Duggan about the transitional time for his career.

“In our time together, Dukey was able to capture the Tasmanian Leading Trainer Award for the 2005/2006 season.

“It was just a great reward for Eric as it made all the years of hard work he had put in worth it.

“We captured two Easter Cups together with our favourite horse Fleet Express in 2005 and 2007. We won plenty of races as a trainer/driver combination over the years” said Ricky on his partnership with Dukey Jacobson.

Touching on the gelding by Silent Spring x New York Maid that delivered Duggan a multitude of victories in Fleet Express, Ricky credits his ability to back up year after year.

“He was a great horse for both myself and Dukey and I was fortunate enough to win 35 races on the champ.

“He was just such a gentle natured horse who gave his all every time he stepped onto the track and we just had a great bond.

“His longevity was one of Fleet’s best attributes as he raced season after season against the best company in Tasmania and will go down as close to my all- time favourite horse,” Duggan said about Fleet Express who’s racing career concluded in January 2010.

Throughout his career as a leading freelance reinsman, Ricky built up numerous associations with different trainers, owners and horses.

Gold Label

“He was another very gifted pacer that I had the privilege to drive.

“He was trained by Horrie Jenkins and bred by Eric Jacobson. I won nine races on him including the Devonport Cup off 35m which was a huge effort back then,” said Duggan on the 1995 Cup winner.

The bay colt won the 1993 Winfield Golden Mile rating 1:56.7 beating a quality line up including Genghis Karalta and Whisky Regal.

His best career effort though came in the 1993 Tasmanian Pacing Championship where he ran second to the boom of Australian Harness Racing at the time, Jack Morris.

Simply Electric

“He was a very good horse who was trained by Peter Gebel.

“He possessed a good turn of foot but was also very tough so could do work in his races. I actually won 15 races on him which included both the Globe Derby and Raider Stakes Finals”.

Turbo Tyson

“He was a very gifted juvenile trained by Dick Eaves who I happened to win 10 races on during his two and three-year-old seasons with his feature win coming in the 1997 Cadbury Sweepstakes,” Duggan said.

The colt also won a Semi Final of the 1997 Vicbred Super Sires for two-year-old’s and showed that he was more than up to winning the final a week later.

“We were very unlucky not to win the final as he had no luck and couldn’t get a crack at them and only got beaten by a couple of metres,” recalled Duggan on one of the features that got away.

Our Sir Jeckyl

In more recent times, there is one horse in particular that Ricky is especially thankful for.

“He was another great horse to me but more importantly that is where my friendship started with yourself (Jamie Cockshutt) as you owned Jeckyl with a couple of colleagues,” said Duggan on the gelding who he drove for the first time back in January 2008.

“It was also great to get on a horse trained by Tony Petersen who was someone I looked up to when I first started driving.

“My fourth drive on Jeckyl came in the 2010 Easter Cup and he was coming off a very brave third the week before in the Metropolitan Cup.

“He was enormous that night as we led up the three-wide line from the 1200m mark and he ran his last half in 55 seconds which was just a brilliant performance. It was also a great night of celebrating that’s for sure,” reflected Duggan on the 4.5-metre win over Sky Tower.

“Jeckyl also gave me my first winner at Melton which was a huge thrill,”.

Duggan won 12 races on Our Sir Jeckyl with all of them being at Free for All level including numerous feature races.

Jamie Cockshutt and Barry Cooper

Ricky has had a great partnership with Jamie and his mate Barry Cooper over the last seven seasons where they have teamed up for close to 200 winners in that time. Some of the winners he has driven for Jamie and Barry include:

Our Chain of Command

“He was just an old marvel as not many horses can win off 50m.

“He was a great horse to drive as always gave his best and his longevity was a credit to his competitive nature”. 

Mister Lennox

“He’s a great little horse who has a lot of high speed and that’s won him all of his races.

“Running fourth in the Breeders Crown for three-year-old colts and geldings is a testament to the horse’s ability”.

Dapper Dana

Dapper Dana is probably the most gifted of them all, but a tendon injury saw him sidelined when he was at the peak of his powers.

“This horse was just the complete package,” said Duggan on the gelding who last raced in March 2018.

Cool Water Paddy

“He is the latest quality pacer that I have driven for Jamie and Barry and a couple of close lifelong friends of Jamie’s in Adam Aherne and David Kamaric whose late father Paddy is the reason behind the name.

“I have lot of time for him as he shows enormous potential and if he continues to improve, he could be something special over the next few seasons.

“He could be the horse everyone involved has been waiting for,” Duggan said on the gelding who would have likely started favourite for the 2020 Easter Cup had it been run as scheduled. 

Juanita McKenzie

“In my time I have been fortunate to team up with some great trainers.

“Juanita McKenzie is a very astute trainer and is the daughter of Joe McKenzie who was a good trainer in his own right, so he obviously passed his knowledge onto his daughter.

“Along with her right-hand man Kerry Hill who is a huge part of the success.

“We have been fortunate enough to team up with nice horses over the past few seasons with the likes of Our Chain Of Command, Mister Lennox, Dapper Dana, Queens Advocate and a real favourite of Juanita’s in Major Callum (main picture),” said Duggan.

Cool Water Paddy is the latest of Juanita’s quality pacers that has emerged on the scene. 

Paul “Smiley” Hill

“Smiley is a good mate of mine and has had great success with some smart youngsters over the past few seasons such as Jerrys Jet, Hillview Jake and Chica Bella all of which I have driven to plenty of wins.

“I just hope he has another smart youngster coming through the ranks for many more seasons to come,” Duggan said.

While unable to list every trainer, Ricky also credits the likes of Barrie Rattray, Neville Webberley, Kent Rattray and Rodney Ashwood who he has been fortunate to drive regularly for over the years.

 

Jamie Cockshutt for Tasracing