GREAT to see NH jockey Shane Jackson over from Australia and back to his old haunts when he visited Tinahely point-to-point last Sunday. Now based at Warrnambool, Victoria in the yard of the Bill and Symon Wilde training partnership, Shane, his wife Lauren and their little boy Joseph (3) are well settled in and enjoying life. “I have been in Australia for about two and a half years and came when things were pretty bad on the economic scene at home. I had visited Australia when I was one of the team on the Ireland v Australia jumps jockey series along with Nina Carberry, Katie Walsh and Alan Cawley and made plenty of contacts.

“It’s going well in the Wilde’s yard, with about 40 horses. We’ve had a great welcome and I’m getting plenty of work and rides and wins so I can make a good living. I was lucky to get sponsored by my employer so I have the visa now. Jumps racing prize money is improving all the time and the sport is back on track having been under threat a few years back. I will definitely see out my career as a jockey in Australia.’’