When I contacted 16-year-old Jett Stanley this week he was doing it tough — alone in quarantine, 3500km from home and nursing a broken arm.
Sutton Grange, Victoria, has been young Stanley’s home in recent years. That’s where his dad Brent’s training establishment is located. Now Jett is about to make his own way in the racing game, starting in Perth.
The Stanley name is famous in racing ... with many from the “clan” becoming jockeys and trainers.
Standing at 5ft 10in (177.8cm), young Jett admits his time in the saddle may be brief, but nothing was going to stop him having a go.
That determination was the reason he boarded his flight west earlier this month — to begin an apprenticeship with WA’s  leading trainers Grant and Alana Williams.
At the same time Jett was flying over the Nullarbor, so too was the great mare Arcadia Queen. She had spent the previous four months at Sutton Grange and it was from that base she went on to grab two spring Group 1 triumphs (Caulfield Stakes and Mackinnon Stakes).
“Grant Williams stayed at Sutton Grange with Dad the previous autumn, when he won the All-Star Mile with Regal Power,” Jett explained.
 “I strapped Super Storm that day. He finished second.
“When Grant returned for the spring carnival he offered me the apprenticeship opportunity and I didn’t need to think twice — and to my surprise Mum was happy for me to come out of school at the end of year 10.
“Grant and his family are great people. They’re like a second family to me and that makes this big move easier.”
Jett has been riding trackwork since before he turned 15 and has ridden in about 50 jumpouts. He’s also had some handy mentors to call on.
“Pikey (William Pike) has been great to get some pointers from and my dad has been good, too. Damien Oliver told me the other day my father was a good jockey so you have to take a bit of notice of what he’s got to say,” Jett said with a laugh.
Brent Stanley rode more than 650 winners, the highlight being his victory in the 1996 Caulfield Cup aboard Arctic Scent when he was a 17-year-old apprentice. He also had riding stints overseas, in Macau and Malaysia.
Jett, who turns 17 in a couple of months, is hoping to get his first race ride  early next year (around April).
“I expect to be out of this sling and back in the saddle in a couple of weeks,” he said.
The Williams stable has 50 horses in work and Jett  is excited about the prospect of riding in the famous cerise and white colours.
“It’s going to be amazing,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to wear them in the jumpouts when trialling Showmanship and Regal Power but to wear them on raceday for the (Bob) Peters family will be a real honour,” he said.