FEATURE
Jockeys require immense strength and fitness to pilot thoroughbreds. (George Sal/Racing Photos)
the Apprentice Jockey Training Program and senior jockeys already established in the saddle. For an industry that’s moved from ad hoc fitness routines to genuinely elite-level preparation, it’s a tangible sign of how seriously that shift is now being taken. Melbourne’s champion apprentice for 2025–26, Luke Cartwright, says the advice he received early in his apprenticeship has stuck with him. “Early on, what they told me helped me figure it out. I’m nearly a fourth-year apprentice now, and I know what works for me – I just work around that,” Cartwright said. With a racing schedule that can see him in the saddle five or six days a week, Cartwright says he stays naturally fit through riding alone. In quieter weeks, he turns to the gym and treadmill – particularly when he needs to ride light – and works with a personal trainer once a week on the specific muscle groups jockeys rely on. Melbourne Cup–winning jockey Jye McNeil takes a different approach, using boxing as his primary tool for both fitness
fitness. Depending on what gear you wear, you could lose anywhere from one to two kilos in a session.” McNeil also uses interval training on the exercise bike, dressed in sweat gear, as a second weight-management tool. Between riding at five to seven meetings a week, plus jump-outs and trackwork, he says he’s able to maintain his fitness without needing to do much extra. The sauna, these days, is reserved as a last resort – a final touch if he needs to shed half a kilogram before raceday. Boxing also features in the routine of apprentice jockeys like Jett Stanley, who cites benefits for both fitness and reflexes. Damien Oliver has also been known to put apprentice jockeys through their paces in the gym. So the next time you’re watching jockeys battle it out down the straight, remember: what looks effortless in the saddle is the product of a level of preparation, education and self- management that would have been unrecognisable to the jockeys of a generation ago.
and weight management. “Depending on what weight you’re riding at, you can add sweat gear and extra clothing to produce more sweat. It’s a good activity for both fitness and strength,” he said. “I’ve been doing it for a while now. Initially I picked it up for the skill work – to improve my hand- eye coordination.” The method was put to the test in 2020, when McNeil won the Thousand Guineas aboard three-year-old filly Odeum, before being aimed at the Empire Rose Stakes – a race that required him to cut from 56kg down to 50.5kg. “The guy I worked with was Brett Peatling, who’d worked with Glen Boss when he got down to 48kg to ride Savabeel in the 2008 Cox Plate,” McNeil said. “I put a lot of trust in him the first time I did it, and I’ve just kept doing it and developing it since. It’s my go- to for weight cuts and fitness.” That spring, chasing the lightest riding weight he’d carried in years, McNeil trained three to four boxing sessions a week – an hour at a time, including warm-up, high- intensity work, and a cool-down. “It’s pretty tough, but it’s really great for
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