A core focus for Dylan Gibbons this season has been consistency, a principle he plans to uphold moving forward.
The ultimate goal for any jockey is to win Group 1 races, and securing the final major event of the 2025-26 racing term aboard Infancy in the Tattersall’s Tiara (1400m) would be a perfect conclusion to a successful year.
Gibbons, a promising apprentice, was initially seen as part of the next generation of jockeys, alongside talents like Zac Lloyd and Tyler Schiller. However, a shoulder injury sustained in late 2024 interrupted his progress.
He returned to the saddle last year and worked diligently to re-establish himself in Sydney’s competitive racing circuit. While this required time and significant perseverance, the positive results eventually began to appear.
Having accumulated 38 metropolitan wins in Sydney this term, Gibbons currently sits eighth on the jockeys’ premiership table. His season highlights include Group 3 victories with 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 commented.
“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 achieved Group 1 success on two occasions, partnering 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 rides Infancy in the Tattersall’s Tiara, believing the $51 chance is capable of causing an upset.
Infancy showed her mettle with a second-place finish in the Group 2 Sapphire Stakes (1200m) in April. She later raced in the midfield in the Luskin Star Stakes (1300m) at Scone, and again in the Bob Charley Stakes (1200m), which was significantly influenced by the front-runner Wanaruah.
While the filly will need some luck from an awkward draw and a solid pace, Gibbons expects her to be competitive if these conditions are met.
“She has over-achieved her whole career and done a remarkable job,” he stated.
“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 is also booked to ride the tough sprinter Brudenell for Lees in the W J Healy Stakes (1200m) and would be thrilled to see the dual Listed winner achieve a 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 bookmakers favouring Geemes ($5.50) as his best chance of success in the Listed Tattersall’s Gold Crown (2100m).
Infancy is a $51 outsider in the Tattersall’s Tiara, but Gibbons is confident she can surprise. Explore the latest racing odds at betting markets for the race.