On Wednesday 9 October, close to 50 people attended the Old Paradians’ monthly luncheon, where the Director of OTI Racing, Terry Henderson (1966), arranged for champion jockey and trainer Shane Jackson to share his journey.

From riding horses in Ireland, then coming to Australia, ‘Jacko’ has become a respected figure in the jumps racing community and has established himself as a successful horse trainer.

Originally from Rathangan in County Kildare, Ireland, Jacko began his riding career in his homeland, where he was crowned champion conditional jockey and represented Ireland in the Ireland v Australia Jockey Challenge in 2008.

After moving to Australia, he quickly became a respected figure in the jumps racing community, with his riding achievements including two Tommy Corrigan Medals, awarded to Australia’s leading jumps jockey. One of the highlights of his riding career came in 2020 when he partnered Ablaze to victory in the 5,500-metre Grand Annual Steeplechase at Warrnambool – one of Australia's most challenging and prestigious jumps races.

It was wonderful to hear Jacko sharing his journey once retired from race riding to joining Lindsey Smith's Warrnambool operation as an assistant trainer where he is further developing his knowledge and skills, before gaining his own trainer's licence in 2022.

A significant early achievement came in 2024 when Mystery Island won the Listed Warrnambool Cup, giving Jacko his biggest training victory at that stage and completing a remarkable journey from Grand Annual-winning jockey to successful trainer.

A big thank you to Terry for conducting the Q&A with Jacko and inviting personal stories to be shared that hadn’t been heard before. There were many questions from the guests in the room, proving that our horse racing-themed luncheon is always a popular one.

The next luncheon will be on Wednesday 14 October, where we will welcome back, by popular demand, Brendan Money (1976), who will be sharing stories from his 34 years working in the Victoria Corrections system.