Far left: Cranbourne jockey Mark Flaherty boots home Miss Kooch for Colin Alderson at his home track on Friday, to chalk up his 1000th winner.By Brad Kingsbury
CRANBOURNE jockey Mark Flaherty reached the personal milestone of 1000 winners when he rode a flawless race on Miss Kooch to win the seventh event during last Friday’s meeting at his home track.
Flaherty, nicknamed Sparrow, picked up the ride on the Colin Alderson-trained filly after fellow hoop Danny Brereton, who was originally booked for the mount, was unable to honour the commitment.
“I got the mount after race one,” he said. “Col actually approached Peter Mertens, but he already had a ride in the race and I said ‘I’ll ride it for you’. He said okay and that was it.”
Flaherty’s winning ways started in his first race ride in 1988, when he booted home My Memento at Bairnsdale for former master Mick Kent, with whom he served a six-year apprenticeship.
His reputation as a superb judge of a race and a master horseman grew quickly and he became one of the state’s best apprentices and later Victoria’s leading country rider in the 1990s.
While his talent was undeniable, Flaherty, now 35, has endured problems with his weight since his late teens, which he has learned to manage but that stopped him achieving the milestone earlier.
He recognised that it was a big achievement afterwards and said that he knew the mark was looming.
“It felt like I was in the 900s for a while,” he said.
“I knew I was getting close. My dad (Pat) keeps a book of my rides and wins and I asked him about a month ago how I was going and he said I was in the 990s.”
After the race, course announcer Brian Markovic announced the milestone to the cheers of the crowd.
Flaherty, who lives in Cranbourne and has a long association with the area, said it was nice to reach the goal at his home track.
“Cranbourne was where I started my career and it was a great thrill to ride it there. I rode my 500th winner at Cranbourne, too,” he said.
