Surely this man must be one of the most underrated jockeys in Australia. Because of his ongoing battles with weight, he gets a low amount of rides, but he rides sensationally and rarely makes mistakes. His handling of horses such as Mushtak, Universal Prince and Magic Albert has been first class.



No matter how many winners he may ride, I rate him up there in the top 5 jockeys in Australia, no worries. You can do a lot worse than use his rides as starting points in looking for good bets.

Well for what its worth here are my top 10.

1/ D Oliver =
2/ D Beadman =
3/ G Childs =
4/ J Cassidy
5/ D Gauci
6/ L Cassidy
7/ B Prebble
8/ G Boss
9/ B York
10/ D Dunn

Beadman isn't as good as he was, Cassidy just gets that many good rides he has to win as much as he does, I used to rate Boss highly but he puts in some shockers.

Oliver is the best in Australia by a street, Sheehan is the best in Sydney, and James Nevin is the best apprentice in Australia.

i would argue with your rating of best apprentice have you been sleeping while 2 boys in queensland go about there trade,,,, they go by the given names of purdon and rodd both outstanding the former is coming to sydney to ride for quinton then you will see a good hoop//// as for oliver great rider great judge but has no luck in sydney as for the best of the best of the current crop the pumper wins hands down.good luck phantom

I agree, those Queensland boys are very good, but James Nevin is competing with the big boys in Victoria.

Anyone who can get that filly Blab to race consistently is surely doing something right!

I think Patrick Payne should also get a mention as one of the top hoops, especially as one of the heavier riders with not as many opportunites as some of his more prolific counterparts. Any thoughts on him?
Cheers!

we saw the beadman of old at warick farm sat, i was listening to a interview with john tapp and beadman said he feels he is back nooow and that it took a long time to get it right but after sat at the farm he can carry mine forever and a day ////// re the crop of good jocks at the moment you could name them all day and still miss some but still i maintain the best of the best when push comes to shove go the pumper all day every day good luck phantom

I have to admit, much as I have been disappointed with Beadman since his comeback, he has been riding exceptionally lately.

For the record, my top 5 jockeys are:

1 - D. Oliver
2 - P. Payne
3 - J. Sheehan
4 - J. Cassidy
5 - B. Prebble

I have no worries when backing these five jockeys, you know they will judge the pace better than most, and more importantly will know where to be (Eg The Pumper on Caulfield Cup day a couple of years back when he got home on Oliver Twist and Bonanova - try telling me he didnt know where the fast lane was...)

There he was again on Saturday big Justin, riding Magic Albert an absolute treat to win the Peter Pan. Watch out for him this spring, he's getting on some smart ones.

Here are my top jockeys.
1. D.Oliver
2. J.Cassidy
3. B.Prebble
4. D.Gauci
5. S.Katsidis - very underrated Queenslander.If he had a ride I liked it wouldn't worry me if he was against Oliver or Cassidy with strong rides.
6. J.Sheehan
7. D.Beasley - he's put on plenty of plunge horses - that says it all.
8. G.Childs - he wouldn't be on Sunline if he was no good!
9. P.Payne
10.Z.Purton - he could be the best apprentice in the country. (V.Hall challenges).Rarely rides a bad race. His claim is a luxury. Excellent judge of pace and the ability of other horses - see his winning ride on Brighter Scene last Saturday.