By Orville Clarke, Freelance WriterFORMER CHAMPION Shane Ellis is riding up a storm at Caymanas Park since returning home from Canada in the summer and promises it will develop into a hurricane come next year.
The second generation jockey, son of three-time champion Winston "Dozer" Ellis, rode his 41st winner (Charming Belle) of the season at Caymanas Park on Saturday, or better still his 30th since he resumed riding on August 21, following a stint at Woodbine racetrack in Toronto, Canada.
To many, the new more professional Shane Ellis is a revelation in the saddle. He has been able to relax horses a bit more and his timing near perfect, not to mention his superior fitness level.
STINT IN CANADA
The jockey, who turned 30 on October 17, says his stint in Canada has definitely enabled him to improve his riding skills.
"Over there you have to be professional. You have to conform to their standards otherwise you go hungry.
"The fact that you are riding against international opposition leaves little room for error. You have to keep a straight course and be focused all the time," said Ellis, who from time to time at Woodbine has rubbed shoulders with major American jockeys such as Jerry Bailey, Pat Day, Mike Smith and Corey Nakatani to name a few.
Ellis has been riding at Canada's premier racetrack since early 2001.
After winning the 2000 jockeys' championship here, he was encouraged to try his luck in Canada by his mother who resides in Toronto. During his first stint, Shane says he rode 18 winners, including a few for the legendary Jamaican-born trainer Laurie Silvera, who is a force to be reckoned with at Woodbine.
The following year he rode 32 winners, but was not so successful on his most recent stint earlier this season when he rode only eight winners.
LUCRATIVE RIDING CONTRACT
Ellis was lured back to Jamaica to fulfil a lucrative riding contract for noted Caribbean owner, Elias Haloute, who not only owns horses that are trained in Jamaica by Anthony "Baba" Nunes, but Trinidad and Tobago and his home country Barbados as well.
"I cannot disclose the terms of the agreement but it's a good deal and all in all will enable me to stay in Jamaica.
"I am looking forward to having another crack at the jockeys' title which I believe I can win next year with the backing of other trainers", said Ellis, who added that under the terms of his contract, he is required from time to time ride horses for Haloute in select races in the Eastern Caribbean.
As far as the 2004 jockeys' championship is concerned, Ellis says he has a point to prove.
His detractors say he won the 2000 title by default, capitalising on the misfortune of Andrew Ramgeet who was a comfortable leader in early November when sidelined for the rest of the season from injuries sustained in a spill.
Meanwhile, his short term objective is to win the November 8 Red Stripe Superstakes aboard Haloute's talented 3-y-o gelding PITTACUS, and to finish second in the jockeys' championship as well.
He has been moving rapidly up the standings to hold down fourth position with 41 wins, only 11 behind the apprentice Paul Francis who is currently second to runaway leader Trevor 'Slicer' Simpson.
Come next year Simpson will be his main rival for championship honours. However, Shane believes that in tandem with the best agent in the business, Donovan Wilson, Simpson could be history.
"My agent and I have done very well as a team in a short space of time and he's definitely the best on the ground. He's a hard worker and right now he gives me 110 per cent. I couldn't ask for more," he maintains.
Ellis pushed his career total at Caymanas Park to 358 when Charming Belle was awarded the eighth race in the Stewards' Room.
Among his tally are three classic winners in RAY OF HOPE in the 1000 Guineas in 2000, P.W's CHOICE in the 1997 Jamaica Oaks and AWESOME POWER in the 2001 Red Stripe Derby.
EPIC STRETCH DUEL
Ellis won the premier classic on AWESOME POWER after an epic stretch duel with four-time champion Charles Hussey aboard MILLIMETRE, the classy filly getting home by a nose. That was his most important win to date but PITTACUS could provide the icing on the cake if he wins the upcoming Superstakes.
Becoming a jockey was only natural for Ellis as this was inherent in his genes. Despite this, his relationship with his famous father has been strained for the longest while.
Years of neglect on the part of his father has fostered some resentment and he is yet to come to terms with this.
"The last I heard he was in New York," he says of his father, who was champion jockey in 1964, 1967 and 1969. "As far as I am concerned, he can go his way, I'll go mine," added the unforgiving son.
Ellis graduated from the Jockeys' School in April 1996 along with batchmates Wesley "Callaloo" Henry and Richie Mitchell. He rode his first winner, AWARD THE STAR shortly after and has never looked back.
