Robbie Dolan, who won the Lexus Melbourne Cup last November, will draw on that big-race win ahead of Saturday’s Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup.
As well as appearing in the 11th season of the Australian tv series The Voice, Irish-born rider Dolan can lay claim to having already led up a horse at the Royal Berkshire venue. Prior to moving to Australia, Dolan led up the Irish 1000 Guineas winner Jet Setting in the 2016 Coronation Stakes.
Dolan told the Nick Luck Daily Podcast: “That's the last time I was here, I haven’t ridden at the track before.
"Winning the Melbourne Cup was unbelievable. I never thought I'd even get the chance to ride in the race. But that's just the beauty of racing.
"I've had a lot more rides since the race, but racing is a tough game. You're only as good as your last ride in a sense. So, you just have to keep going and the ball keeps rolling.”
It’s nine years since Dolan decided to move to Australia from Ireland and his career has flourished.
Dolan explained: “I just needed a bit of a change, I was a struggling apprentice and just wanted a change of scenery. England was on the cards, America was on the cards, but I ended up just deciding to go to Australia.
“I can't really remember why, but it just looked like a good option. The pay was good, there was a lot of races and obviously the lifestyle was pretty incredible as well. I was only planning on coming over for 12 months and sussing it out and have been there for nine years, so I think it must be going all right.”
Dolan grew up in Kildare and is looking forward to visiting friends and family in the area as part of his trip back to Europe.
He recalled: “I used to go to every race meeting at the Curragh when I was a kid growing up and getting photos with jockeys and getting goggles off Johnny Murtagh and Kieren Fallon and the boys back in the day.
“My dad worked for Dermot Weld for a long time and my brother's a trainer in America and my grandfather's also a classic winning jockey in Ireland as well, so it's in the blood.”
And his hopes for Saturday’s card at Ascot?
“Hopefully we can get a couple of winners. That'd be good,” he added. Thanks to that Melbourne Cup win in November, life is sure to be good for a while yet.
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