Confident Halledeen aiming to win Triple Crown in 2022
Published:Saturday | February 5, 2022 | 12:08 AMRobert Bailey/Gleaner Writer
In-form jockey Robert ‘Hardball’ Halledeen says hard work and dedication are the key factors that have contributed to his success over the past four months at Caymanas Park.
Halledeen, 33, has been setting the racetrack alight with his bustling riding style which has resulted in 37 winners in four months. His late flurry in the last three months carried him to fourth in the 2021 jockeys’ championships with 46 winners. Anthony Thomas won the title last year with 108 winners.
Halledeen, who described himself as a “late bloomer” in the saddle, said he has been taking his profession a lot more seriously and this resulted in his excellent form in the saddle.
“I am blooming now because I have been taking the work a lot more seriously,” said Halledean. “I am enjoying riding and I am more confident and I am enjoying the horses and studying the horses a lot more,” he said.
“I am working for everybody that I can work for and anybody who wants me to work for them,” Halledeen stated.
He is currently second in this year’s jockeys’ championships with nine winners, one behind the leader Dane Dawkins.
MAIN FOCUS
Halledeen, a past student of St Catherine High, has won more than 300 races in his career, but is yet to win the riders’ title championships, underscored that his main focus is to win as many races as possible this season.
“I don’t have that (jockeys’ championships) on my mind. The target for this year is to win as many races as I can,” he said. “I would also like to win all the quarterly incentives that Supreme Ventures have to give away, all the Grade One races and the Triple Crown this year,” Halledeen said.
He won the Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited’s last quarterly championships in 2021, with 28 winners.
Halledeen also praised his agent Derrick ‘Chungy’ Keith for working assiduously to get him the winning rides, describing him as ‘a very good agent.’
He is currently riding with a body weight of 53 kilogrammes but plans to bring that down to 50kg this season.