Daniel Ganderton wins on Fly By at Werribee. (Pic: Racing Photos)
It’s funny how things pan out.
In 2008, teenage apprentice Daniel Ganderton was plucked out of Launceston to ride for champion trainer Gai Waterhouse.
Ganderton had an immediate impact, his 59 wins in the 2008/09 season good enough for champion apprentice honours.
He chalked up close to a dozen feature race wins, the highlight being the 2010 Group 2 Shannon Stakes on Firebolt for Roger James, while another big one was aboard the Waterhouse-trained Herculian Prince in the Listed Neville Selwood Stakes in the same year.
From 139 rides for Waterhouse, Ganderton notched 31 wins and 46 placings, amassing in excess of $1 million in prizemoney for connections.
He was a rising star of the sport with the world at his feet.
However, by his own admission, the bright lights of the big smoke were too much, and after a string of on and off track misdemeanours, Ganderton had fallen out of love with racing and was done with the harbour city.
He moved to Western Australia, but, upon reflection, that was simply shifting the problem, not dealing with it.
Following a year in the West, Gand...
