Less than a day after his first group 1 ride and in the middle of what should have been the greatest three weeks of his fledgling career, Jabez Johnstone found himself in a dark place.
asserted
Johnstone → find → place
His phone lit up with a series of death threats and vile social media abuse in the aftermath of a tragic horse death in the Caulfield Cup.
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phone → light → Cup
Many accused the second-year apprentice of causing the mid-race interference that led to two horses and their jockeys crashing to the turf.
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horses → accuse → turf
Two days later Johnstone and all riders involved in the Cup crash were cleared by Racing Victoria stewards of any blame.
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Johnstone → involve → blame
But the 20-year-old’s meteoric rise from the backblocks of Tasmania to the bright lights of the spring carnival had taken a hit.
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rise → take → hit
He felt the need to hide away.
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He → feel → ?
It was at this time that Johnstone sister’s Taylor, a senior rider in South Australia who introduced him to the sport, delivered her younger sibling some sage advice.
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who → introduce → advice
“I gave him a call because I knew that, obviously, he’s still a young kid who’s trying to, you know, just navigate his way through it,” she said.
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she → give → it
“So I just said, ‘mate, the best jockey in the world [Zac Purton] is getting criticised for his ride on his horse in the Everest as well, so it’s just a part of racing, and you’ve just got to try and shut it out’.”
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you → say → it
Others rallied to support the apprentice – his first trainer and mother figure Sarah Cotton, his apprentice coach and father figure Stephen Maskiell and his new master Ciaron Maher.
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Others → rally → apprentice
“When you’re getting death threats and hate messages, or you can’t even open social media without seeing your name everywhere, I think it affects anybody, especially someone at his age,” Cotton told this masthead.
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Cotton → get → masthead
“We just kept saying, ‘you’re not doing anything wrong.
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you → keep → anything
With the backing of Maher, Johnstone turned out on Cox Plate day at Flemington, a week after the Caulfield Cup, and almost won the group 2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup on Mr Monaco.
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Johnstone → turn → Monaco
On Tuesday, he will ride the same horse in the Melbourne Cup.
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he → ride → Cup
“That’s a true testament to him and his strength that he was able to put that behind him and keep going out and riding and not worrying about it,” Cotton said.
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Cotton → ’ → it
The fearless siblings
Taylor and Jabez Johnstone were born three years apart, but have always stuck together.
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Johnstone → bear → ?
Growing up 30 minutes outside Hobart, they would “bomb around” a paddock at the back of their house on a couple of ponies – “no saddles, no bridles, nothing,” she said.
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she → grow → ponies
“We were both pretty fearless,” Jabez’s 23-year-old sister recalled.
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sister → recall → ?
“We didn’t really care about or worry about much when we were kids, and I think it still stays the same until this day.
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it → care → day
“We used to just go flat out.
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We → use → ?
We came off plenty of times, but we’d always get straight back on.”
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we → come → times
Despite their love of horses, and natural talent, the Johnstones followed an unorthodox path into racing.
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Johnstones → follow → racing
Taylor was dragged along to trackwork by a friend, and never left.
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Taylor → drag → friend
Her motorbike-riding and car-loving little brother was looking for a suitable career path two years later.
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brother → rid → path
“He was on the verge of finishing school [year 10], and didn’t really want to go to college.
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He → finish → college
Neither did I, obviously,” she said.
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she → do → ?
“And I said, ‘you know, why don’t you just come out and give it a try and see how it goes’?
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it → say → try
“For a start we had no connections in racing whatsoever.
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we → have → racing
We both had no idea about it.
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We → have → it
We never even used to really watch it on the TV, so it was all very new to us when we started riding.
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we → use → us
Now they are living the dream.
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they → live → dream
Taylor has forgone a book of rides at Morphettville on Tuesday to be at Flemington to watch her brother race.
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brother → forgo → Flemington
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she said.
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she → miss → world
Treated him like a son
After deciding he would become a jockey, Johnstone spent a year trail riding with Maskiell at Seven Mile Beach, 20 minutes east of Hobart, before starting his apprenticeship with Cotton.
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Johnstone → treat → Cotton
The jockey coach, who stays in regular contact with the second-year apprentice, remembers a raw young kid with beautiful balance who soaked up information like a sponge.
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who → stay → sponge
“I would ride my old my horse, and he rode this old grey horse that’s retired now, Sir Simon, and every single day he was with me at the beach, and I was hard on him and treating like my own son,” Maskiell said.
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Maskiell → ride → son
“He copped it really well, and that was why you could keep him teaching him because he was good with criticism.
uncertain
he → cop → criticism
But his greatest asset, him and his sister, is they’ve got an unbelievable work ethic.”
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they → get → ethic
Johnstone had his first race ride for Cotton on a horse called Super Cutter, finishing fourth at Hobart on Melbourne Cup Day in 2024.
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Johnstone → have → 2024
His sister had returned from Adelaide for the day to be his strapper.
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sister → return → day
…and 31 more, not listed.
The Aporia
