John Tapp Racing

We had our podcast interview with Keith Ballard safely “in the can” before he reported for duty at Saturday’s Julia Creek Cup fixture at Mount Isa. It’s now history that the legendary jockey went out a winner on the final ride of his 55 year career. Keith was winless in the first four races, but turned it around in the last when he went straight to the lead on Metal Bar and romped home by more than five lengths in the Julia Creek Cup. The fairy tale was enhanced by the fact that Keith’s wife Denise trains the winner. Two days earlier we caught up with the 71 year old to reminisce a little about his remarkable career. He began by revealing that Denise had been trying to get him to retire for quite some time. He talks about a recent Cloncurry win on Capiteel for his trainer wife and acknowledges the support of trainer Tanya Parry. Keith talks about Denise’s former riding career in an era when female jockeys were battling for recognition. He says Denise isn’t too tough on him when his judgement is astray. The ve