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Jockey Harry Coffey resented being known as \u201cthe sick kid who rides\u201d.<\/p>\n
Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (a genetic disease impacting one in 2500 births in Australia that clogs up the lungs and makes sufferers more susceptible to illness) at just six weeks old, Coffey has had to defy the odds his entire career just to prove he is capable of riding at the elite level.<\/p>\n
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Harry Coffey wins on board Belthil on Caulfield Guineas day.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n Coffey, from Swan Hill, knows he\u2019ll never be as fit as his rivals, but that\u2019s never stopped him from competing. On Saturday, he\u2019ll ride in three races during Champions Day at Flemington, having already placed on the podium once during this week\u2019s Melbourne Cup carnival.<\/p>\n Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Victoria, Coffey was leading the state\u2019s jockey premiership, amassing wins, and thousands of kilometres in his ute, across country Victoria.<\/p>\n Jockey Harry Coffey has three rides on Champions Day at Flemington.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n But the risk of contracting COVID-19 forced him into isolation on the farm.<\/p>\n \u201cI was unaware of what COVID was, and we were advised, if you had a chronic health condition, not to put yourself in high-risk situations,\u201d Coffey said.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing to the races in a jockeys\u2019 room full of people coming from all over the countryside to one area was considered a high-risk place.<\/p>\n \u201cUp until then, I was leading the premierships in Victoria and riding at a really high strike rate. That was a little bit frustrating because I was a fair way in front in the premiership at the time I stopped riding. Now I\u2019m starting to fully hit straps again. I thought I was doing the right thing by not riding, but it turned out racing was one of the safest places because it was the only thing that kept going and our protocols were so strict that not many actually did get COVID.<\/p>\n \u201cI actually could have continued to ride, but [the break] was something I needed.\u201d<\/p>\n From an early age, Coffey wanted to be a jockey. He grew up in a racing family \u2013 his father Austy is a racehorse trainer \u2013 and after doing a school-based apprenticeship as a jockey, he stepped into the riding ranks.<\/p>\n But Coffey didn\u2019t want his condition to be made a big deal of.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore I started riding, I just went along quietly and when I started riding, I didn\u2019t really like \u2018the sick kid\u2019, \u2018he does it tough\u2019, \u2018amazing story\u2019 [narrative]. I was really against it,\u201d Coffey said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut as I\u2019ve matured, I\u2019ve become to understand it\u2019s not about me.\u201d<\/p>\n Now married to wife Tayla and father to five-and-a-half-month-old Thomas, Coffey is aware his story provides inspiration to many other families who have children with cystic fibrosis.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of people with CF, especially families with CF, that follow my story and like to see me do well,\u201d said Coffey.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a funny thing because, looking at someone, you don\u2019t know they\u2019ve got it, but actually, when it\u2019s all torn away, and you actually understand it and get to know the person, they\u2019re doing an amazing job to get up and be able to be considered living a normal life.\u201d<\/p>\n For the past few years, a new drug called Trifakta \u2013 which tricks his body into thinking it has a gene that he is missing \u2013 has changed Coffey\u2019s life.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s two tablets in the morning and a tablet at night, and it\u2019s an absolute game-changer,\u201d Coffey said.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be able to do the workload that I am currently doing if I was not as healthy as what I am now.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter most races, I would need to clear my airways with a cough and I would come back in quite fatigued and short of breath, whereas now I\u2019m feeling a lot better, not short in breath.<\/p>\n \u201cYou would have noticed in a lot of my interviews, say two or three years ago, I would have been heaving and quite red in the face and fatigued, whereas now my recovery instantly after a race is a lot better. That\u2019s been the biggest difference.<\/p>\n \u201cAlso, my quality of life is a lot better at home too. You\u2019d wake up in the middle of the night coughing, needing to clear your airways, where now you get a better sleep and just getting up and doing things has become a lot easier with being healthy because I\u2019ve got more energy to do normal people stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n