Jockey Dylan Gibbons has made consistency his watchword this season and intends to maintain that focus into the upcoming racing period.
Achieving Group 1 victories represents the ultimate goal for any jockey, and a triumph aboard Infancy in the Tattersall’s Tiara (1400m), the final major race of the 2025-26 racing term, would provide a perfect flourish to his successful year.
Gibbons, a talented apprentice, was once considered part of the next wave of young riders coming through the ranks, alongside notable names like Zac Lloyd and Tyler Schiller. However, a shoulder injury sustained in late 2024 disrupted his momentum.
Returning to the saddle last year, he worked assiduously to secure a solid position in Sydney’s fiercely competitive racing landscape. While this required time and considerable perseverance, the rewards began to materialise.
With 38 metropolitan wins in Sydney this term, Gibbons is currently positioned eighth on the jockeys’ premiership table. His season highlights include Group 3 victories on Southend in The Baillieu and Piggyback in the Parramatta Cup.
“If you go back a season, things dropped off a bit compared to how they were going when I had the claim, so I had to rebuild, so to speak,” Gibbons stated.
“I wanted to re-establish myself, be a consistent city rider, and keep chipping away at the winners.
“I’ve had a good provincial season, and those horses can eventually turn into city winners. Fortunately enough, I’m also getting near the forty (metropolitan winners) mark which has been good.”
Gibbons has already celebrated two Group 1 successes: guiding Explosive Jack to victory in the 2023 Sydney Cup (3200m) and Kalapour in the 2024 Tancred Stakes (2400m).
He is hopeful of adding to that tally when he partners Infancy in the Tattersall’s Tiara, expressing confidence in the $51 outsider’s potential to surprise.
Infancy produced a strong showing when finishing second in the Group 2 Sapphire Stakes (1200m) in April. She subsequently raced in midfield during the Luskin Star Stakes (1300m) at Scone, and again in the Bob Charley Stakes (1200m), which was dominated by the front-runner Wanaruah.
Although the filly will need some luck from an awkward draw and a solid pace, Gibbons believes she will be in contention if these elements align.
“She has over-achieved her whole career and done a remarkable job,” he commented.
“The 1400 metres is getting near her maximum distance, but when she was in that brutally run 1300 (Luskin Star Stakes) with Whinchat and Phearson leading, they ran it like a mile race and she was there to the fifty metres and got chopped out.
“If she can get the right run, she has got a wicked turn of foot.”
Gibbons also has the ride on the tough sprinter Brudenell for Lees in the W J Healy Stakes (1200m) and would relish seeing the dual Listed winner secure an overdue Group success.
“He is one of my favourite horses. I’ve won four or five races on him now,” Gibbons said.
“He is honest as the day is long, and he’s only gotten better with age. If things go his way, you know he’s going to give one hundred and ten per cent, and it would be nice to see him get a Group win.”
Gibbons has a strong book of eight rides at Eagle Farm, with Geemes ($5.50) rated by bookmakers as his best prospect for victory in the Listed Tattersall’s Gold Crown (2100m).
Infancy is a $51 chance in the Tattersall’s Tiara, but Gibbons believes she is capable of an upset. Check out the latest betting markets for the race at sports betting platforms.