John Tapp Racing

Great to catch up with Queensland’s second oldest active jockey. He’s not long back from a nasty shoulder injury that should have finished his career, but Cyril Small has no intention of stopping. He talks of his ambition to chalk up 50 years as a jockey. Cyril talks of the wonderful support of the trainer who tried to put him on a first up winner at Gatton recently. They ran second. The veteran jockey talks of the simple trackwork accident last October that put him out for 11 months. Cyril talks of his early days in Casino(NSW) and his indentureship to a local trainer. He reflects on his very first win at Casino. He’s never forgotten his first city win and another one shortly afterwards which was the medium of a solid betting plunge. Cyril spent the second half of his apprenticeship in the city with Jim Marshall. Once he moved to town opportunities came from leading trainers. The evergreen jockey pays tribute to his once in a lifetime horse. Cyril won 22 races on the freakish galloper Vo Rogue includin