Patrick Keane had the world at his feet when he was an apprentice in Victoria.
He was being tutored by astute trainer Doug Harrison, and was picking up rides all over the state. He was also a star at the Equine Education Centre, where those teaching him had him pencilled in as a top jockey of the future.
However Keane, who is now 19 admits that he ‘slipped off the rails’ and cost himself any chance of establishing himself as a top rider in the state.
But since moving to Queensland the young hoop has got himself back on the straight and narrow, and on Sunday he celebrated his most successful day since debuting in the state, kicking home three winners.
“I’ve been up here in Queensland for a while now and have been riding for about five months,” Keane said.
“I rode four winners from four rides at Stony Creek back in Victoria a while back, but this is the most I’ve ridden at Queensland.”
Keane took out the second race of the day aboard Scar Tissue, before backing up in the next and saluting on Warrior Girl. His final triumph of the day came in the seventh when he rode Little White Horse to an impressive win.
Keane put the turnaround down to the support he has received from his trainer father John, and his new master Kelly Doughty.
“I’ve certainly had my ups and downs. I went off the rails, I was hanging around the wrong people and became quite disillusioned,” Keane said.
“I’m just thankful that I have been given another chance. My Dad has to take plenty of the credit for getting me back to where I am now. He helped me realise what I’d done wrong and what I had to do to get back to where I wanted to be.
“And Kelly and Gary Doughty, they were the ones who were prepared to take me on up here, I have a lot to thank them for.”
In the five months since Keane moved to the Gold Coast he has ridden 30 winners. and with those thirty wins coming for a number of different stables, Keane is positioning himself to be one of the top Brisbane riders in the future.
