JAMES HALLIDAY, one of Ryedale’s leading conditional jockeys four years ago and attached to the Norton yard of Malcolm Jefferson, is nowadays a work-rider on the other side of the globe - based at Warwick Farm racecourse in the suburbs of Sydney, working for Godolphin Australia.

Halliday, who rode 19 winners in the 2010-11 season, was associated with a whole host of useful horses from the Jefferson yard and rode winners on, among others, McMurrough, Polar Gunner and half-sisters Issaquah and Pokanoket, who provided him with a double at Market Rasen in March 2009.

Halliday also rode his one and only treble at Market Rasen – in June 2010 – and felt the Lincolnshire course was his lucky track. It was, however, a place which also produced its share of emotion. Tragically, it was at the same venue that his brother, Tom, lost his life at the age of 20 in 2005 as a result of a racing fall. The course now stages an annual sponsorship in the young rider’s memory.

Halliday decided to relinquish his licence less than three years ago.

“My weight was starting to get the better of me and, although I had the full support and backing of my parents and the rest of my family, it was, for obvious reasons, stressful for them when I rode, so I decided enough was enough,” he explained.

“After I’d finished riding and I went to Market Rasen with my family to present the scholarship, I was told that my dad actually said to his brother, who was visiting from Canada, that it was the first time in a long time that he had been racing and had actually been able to relax and enjoy it.”

Halliday, now 27, has never had cause for regret. Since finishing, he’s had a year in the US, riding work for top trainer Graham Motion, and is now happily settled in Australia.

“It was the right decision for me to stop when I did. I have some great memories and some great friends from the time I spent in the weighing room and I look back very fondly on that period of my life,” he says.

Nowadays, his priorities – and location - have changed. “I plan to stay in Australia for at least the next few years and try to get residency and maybe eventually citizenship.”

 

• HE’S back in business – at the double. Danny Cook, sidelined for almost five weeks with a fractured arm, can hardly believe how his fortunes have changed.

Although denied his intended first mount back at Newcastle last week when the meeting was abandoned, Cook returned two days later at Musselburgh with a winner and followed up at Haydock 24 hours later with a notable Grade 2 success.

The Malton jockey, whose comeback winner, Streets Of Newyork, was trained by his number one supporter, Brian Ellison, continued his remarkable run for Sue Smith on Wakanda at Haydock, whose novice chase victory provided Cook with his fifth winner from seven rides for the Bingley trainer.

“I could hardly have wished for a better start back,” said Cook. “It was very frustrating to be out for the whole of the busy Christmas period and, not being able to ride, I was sitting at home getting fat and feeling miserable.”

Cook is feeling a whole lot better now. Streets of Newyork, narrowly beaten at Wetherby’s Christmas meeting, made no mistake at Musselburgh when gaining a commanding success after being sent off the 2-1 favourite.

As for Wakanda, he was the joint outsider of the four runners in the C E Facilities Novices’ Chase at Haydock but, in a race in which Her Majesty the Queen’s Close Touch was the odds-on favourite, he made all the running and powered home with more than three lengths to spare to nail a first prize of more than £17,000.

“He has a bit of a tendency to jump to his left, but he’s very tough and when anything came to me, he kept pulling out more. It was a good performance,” said Cook, who is now up to 27 winners for the season, only three shy of his best ever tally.

“It’s just a question of keeping it going now. I couldn’t have had a better start for Sue and Harvey Smith. They have been really good to me, and I get on well with them,” said Cook.

 

• SAMMY JO-BELL and Samantha Dwan, both attached to Ryedale stables, have been short-listed for the Godolphin Stable and Stud Staff Awards.

Bell, who is apprenticed to Richard Fahey, has made it to the final 10 of the ‘Rider/Groom’ award, while Dwan, who had a lengthy association with Nigel Tinkler’s Langton yard, has nine opponents in the ‘Administration’ award catergory.

Stephen Howarth, one of the main cogs in the Kevin Ryan stable at Hambleton, is short-listed for the ‘Leadership’ award.

The 12-strong judging panel includes former champion jockey Peter Scudamore, Dinah Nicholson, widow of former top trainer David Nicholson, and Leanne Masterton, last year’s overall winner.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony hosted by Clare Balding and Ryan Moore at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel in London on February.

Each finalist and their yard is guaranteed a share of £120,000 of prize money being donated by Godolphin.

 

• TWO Ryedale horses crossed the line as one in a race at Wolverhampton last week, only for the stewards to disqualify one of them.

Warfare, a recent Southwell winner, trained by Tim FitzGerald and the mount of Barry McHugh, dead-heated with the David O’Meara-trained Berlusca, ridden by Danny Tudhope.

But the stewards deemed that interference had been caused by Warfare, who was demoted, allowing Berlusca to win first prize outright. McHugh was given a one-day ban for careless riding.

FitzGerald, who trains the gelding for Dukes Racing, considered appealing the decision but after weighing up the £500 cost of lodging an appeal, plus overall travelling costs to get to BHA headquarters in London, decided against it.

 

• WE’VE not reached the end of January and John Quinn is only one winner short of equalling his best-ever total over jumps.

The Norton trainer took his tally of winners this season to 19 when Kashtaree scored at Musselburgh last Friday.

These 19 have come from only 78 runners, which gives him a remarkable strike rate of 24 per cent.

Quinn, who has already bettered his tally of winners for last season, enjoyed his best campaign in 2012-13 with 20 successes.

Kashtaree, previously trained by David Baron, achieved next to nothing on the Flat and failed to get her head in front in 11 starts.

But her hurdling bow on her debut for Quinn resulted in a five-lengths triumph under Dougie Costello at odds of 8-1.