By Jordan Gerrans
Growing up in England in a family with Italian heritage – the vast regional areas of Queensland were nothing more than a distant thought for Pietro Romeo.
Now, at 38 years of age and having lived and ridden in Australia for over a decade, he is almost an expert when it comes to the bush of the Sunshine State.
The hard-working lightweight hoop is chasing a rare accolade over the next 24 months, he is working towards being able to say he has ridden at every track in Queensland.
He is well on the way there – having ridden at 81 around the state – with 27 to go to complete the task.
Romeo’s riding resume reads like a tourism list of destinations for regional Queensland: Cooktown, St George, Chinchilla, Dalby, Twin Hills, Burrandowan, Blackall, Winton and Longreach.
The multiple Cup-winning jockey first came up with the bucket list when chatting with his fiancé Mikhaila Brand, who is a trainer and track work rider in Townsville.
Having ridden throughout the United Kingdom and Australia during his career, Romeo was interested to see how his 143 different tracks stacked up against others in the caper.
While 143 is a significant achievement within itself, he quickly realised champion jockey Craig Williams had ridden at over 160 tracks around the world, while there are other examples of well-travelled international hoops.
Having lived and worked extensively through Queensland and New South Wales, Romeo focused in on his time in the Sunshine State, including times where he has been based on the Sunshine Coast, Rockhampton and Townsville.
All three cities are within driving distance of countless regional non-TAB clubs that only race once a year, which Romeo always supports.
“It is mostly because I have done the miles in Queensland,” he said.
When it comes to the different areas of the state, he has ticked off all the tracks in the South East Queensland district, from Eagle Farm all the way out to Gayndah.
Across the other racing districts, he has ridden at the majority of tracks in each of the eight regions, except for North West Queensland.
While he has Mt Isa, Cloncurry, Julia Creek and Camooweal on his resume, the North West is the only region where tracks Romeo has not ridden at outweighs those that he has, with places like Gregory Downs, Richmond, Hughenden, among others, still to be completed.
“Hopefully I can knock them over between this and next year,” Romeo, who is Townsville-based in 2022, said.
“I may as well find a claim to fame for something if I can and if that is the jockey that has ridden at every track in Queensland, well then I will take it.”
Having grown up a world away from regional Australian towns such as Isisford and Jundah, the leading provincial hoop has thoroughly enjoyed the hours on the road and in planes to be able to race at more than 80 clubs in the state.