Apprentice Duchaine joins Woodbine jockey colony

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Apprentice jockey Brandon Duchaine moved his tack east from Alberta this month and recorded his first Woodbine start in the Sunday finale aboard One Way Talk.

“It was awesome,” Duchaine said. “It was amazing to be on a nice, big track with top riders.”

The 23-year-old native of Mississauga, Ontario, graduated from the Olds College exercise rider and jockey training program in Alberta in 2014. Duchaine was riding on the Alberta circuit this summer but decided to move home to focus on building up his business on the Ontario circuit. He will be represented by agent Neal Wilson.

“This is home for me originally, and I eventually want to be racing on the circuits out here in Ontario,” Duchaine said. “I was grinding it out there, so I figured if I’m only getting a few rides here and there, I might as well come home and do that and get to know the people and get in here for future years.”

Duchaine has accumulated a North American record of five wins from 29 Thoroughbred starts through Sunday, but only one of those wins counts toward his 10-pound weight allowance. Duchaine also won in an Arabian horse apprentice jockey challenge in Poland last month, which has qualified him for the world championships in Abu Dhabi in November.

“It was phenomenal,” Duchaine said. “Just to go around the world and be able to see different tracks and different riding styles and how they do it in Europe with no lead pony and no people in the gate, it was just a phenomenal experience.”

Duchaine has a couple of mounts lined up this week at Fort Erie and Woodbine, including a mount on Woven Lady in the Wednesday night opener at Woodbine for trainer Nathan Squires.