JADEN LLOYD SET TO JOIN THE O'DEA / HOYSTED STABLE

By Graham Potter | Monday, February 14, 2022

Star apprentice Jaden Lloyd will take the next important step in his career when he formally joins the high-flying Steven O’Dea and Matt Hoysted stable at Eagle Farm next week.

The paper-word involved for Lloyd to formally be attached to the stable is still pending, but the arrangement has been finalised with Lloyd all set to kick off the new chapter of his career.

‘I had to kind of drop a hint a couple of times to Jeff (Jaden’s father and manager) about Jaden coming up,” said Steven O’Dea, explaining how the move came about. “I just planted the seed.”

“We’ve had good luck with Jaden. We’ve used him a bit over the past six months and he’s had good success for us. He is riding really well … and even though he is quite a tall guy, he can still ride relatively light and he’s a good strong rider.

“You can see the maturity in his riding over the last couple of months. When he first came to town … like all kids can, they can get a little anxious and try to rush things, but now Jaden is riding some really lovely, patient races … especially over the last few weeks. Some of his rides have been gun rides.

So, after dropping a few hints, how did O’Dea seal the deal? Did he have to give Jeff another nudge?

“Jaden won on Rich Lister for us the other week and I said to Jeff, ‘I can’t believe Jaden doesn’t want me to be his boss,” said O’Dea. “Jeff said … ‘ah, we’re thinking about it’ … and I said I’m only joking about that ‘doesn’t want me to be his boss’ comment … but if he’ll come, I’ll take him.”

Nothing like a little persistence to get what you want.

Lloyd’s full-time presence in the O’Dea / Hoysted camp will add another dimension to the stable’s already powerful pool of riders which includes, amongst others, the likes of Ben Thompson and Boris Thornton.

“With the riders that we use we just try to find the right fit with the individual horses … the right rider for the right horse kind of thing. Sometimes you might have to do a little changing around to find that fit, but we’ve got the luxury now with the bigger numbers that there are certainly the horses there to share around the rides … and it’s working well.

“You do need that claim sometimes. It might be that you need a claim with something that has got a lot of weight, or it also could be when you have a horse and the only way it can win a Saturday race is to get in at the minimum and then take another couple of kilos off too … so it’s not just useful for horses carrying big weights. So, Jaden will become an integral part of what we do.”

Working for a big stable in the busy racing hub of Eagle Farm can only add value to Lloyd’s riding experience, particularly as we are talking about the merging of winning cultures here.

The Steven O’Dea / Matthew Hoysted team currently sits second on the Brisbane Trainer’s Premiership firing at an incredible 32.7% winning strike-rate for the season … that’s 12.6%, and more, better than any other trainer in the Top Twenty list … while Jaden Lloyd currently leads the Brisbane Apprentices Premiership, albeit by only half-a-win from his good friend and arch-rival Kyle Wilson Taylor.

Getting the support of a big stable will certainly enhance Lloyd’s chances of achieving that Premiership goal … although Kyle Wilson-Taylor’s challenge is not likely to go away any time soon and it would be no surprise if the battle between these two talented riders goes right down to the wire.

It's a credit to Jaden Lloyd to have reached this stage of his career at this time … a credit to his father Jeff, an absolute champion jockey in his own right, who mentors and manages his sons Jaden and Zac, and, last but not least, a credit to trainer Maryann Brosnan, who Jaden has been indentured to until the switch to O’Dea / Hoysted.

Brosnan has played an influential part in the Lloyd’s progress and the young rider will undoubtedly leave her with a profound vote of thanks.

For now though, it’s on to the new challenge and few would argue with Steven O’Dea’s assessment of Jaden Lloyd when he says, “You can see how well he is developing.

“I think it is the right time for him to come to Brisbane.”

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