Declan Bates chasing his next Group 1 winner in Stradbroke Handicap aboard Rise At Dawn
Irish jockey Declan Bates is used to playing musical chairs in racing, but he's confident he's on the right horse for the $3m Stradbroke Handicap on Saturday at Eagle Farm.
Many pundits thought Bates had been treated harshly when he was stripped of the ride on reigning horse of the year Pride Of Jenni shortly after the frontrunning mare's flop in the Group 1 Cox Plate last September.
Owner Tony Ottobre decided to instead go with Ben Melham and then Craig Newitt, despite Declan steering Pride Of Jenni to five wins and five placings from 13 races, and $9m in prizemoney, since he picked up the ride in September 2023.
Bates, who has won three of his four Groups 1s on Pride of Jenni, handled the controversial decision with class, saying he felt privileged just to be riding such a talented mare in the first place.
'It wasn't as if there was a fallout or anything,' he told Racenet this week on a bitterly cold morning in Ballarat.
'I probably knew it would come to an end at some point and when it happened, I just felt I was lucky to be on board when I was.
'It provided me with some of the best days of my career. I'm happy to just keep working away and now I'm looking for the next one (Group 1 winner), that's how it works.'
That Group 1 winner could easily be the Ben, JD and Will Hayes -trained Rise At Dawn, who is $9.50 in betting for the 1400m Stradbroke at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
The four-year-old gelding is only one of two horses in single figures in the market, with the other being stablemate War Machine ($2.70).
Bates, 36, has been on board War Machine for seven of his 12 races but Tim Clark will ride the hot Stradbroke favourite on Saturday.
'The favourite will be hard to beat and he's actually a horse I do know very well,' Bates said.
'I've ridden him a few times and won a couple of races on him in the early days.
'He's coming off two really good wins but it's probably a step up for him. He looks to be well in but he probably does need to pick up again if he's going to win.
'My fella's had a couple of runs in some really competitive races like the Doncaster Mile in Sydney (where he finished fourth) so he's sort of well seasoned and he'll be hard to beat.'
Bates will fly up to Brisbane on Friday night to ready himself for his first tilt at a Group 1 in Queensland on a horse he's never ridden before.
'It looks to be a pretty wide-open race, really,' he said.
'He (Rise At Dawn) should be hard-fit now with a good run under his belt and he gets in with a light weight.
'He ticks plenty of boxes and so I'm very confident he's going to run well.'
Rise At Dawn is coming off a fifth placing in the Kingsford Smith Cup last Saturday and Bates expects him to improve as he backs up just seven days later.
'He'll get in with a light weight – would you call it a drop in grade maybe – and the extra 100m should suit,' Bates said
'He'll need everything to go right on the day but if it does then he'll be thereabouts for sure.'
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