The Butler did it in South East Queensland again

By Jordan Gerrans

After a lengthy Central Queensland stint which yielded a couple of The Archer crowns, hoop Ashley Butler has relocated back to Brisbane and he has wasted no time in his new endeavour.

He has collected winners at Clifford Park on the last two Saturday evenings while riding trackwork full-time for Group 1-winning Eagle Farm mentor Kelly Schweida during the week.

The 33-year-old completed his apprenticeship in South East Queensland under John Meagher in the early stages of his riding career before heading to Mackay before eventually settling in Rockhampton for around eight years. 

When the recent flooding event hit Central Queensland, Butler opted to head to Brisbane for a period of time and has remained after linking up with the Schweida team.

He has been well-supported by trainers across the Darling Downs and SEQ in recent weeks.

“While the floods were on up there, three days into being down here, Kelly offered me a full-time job,” Butler said.

“So, I just haven't gone home, to be honest. I am pretty happy riding work for Kel.

“It is a good environment at Kel’s, I rode a fair bit for him when I was here the first time and we get on really good. We have a good relationship.

“Obviously the Currie stable have been a big supporter of mine since I have been down here and they have given me a heap of rides.”

Clifford Park at Toowoomba has been a happy hunting ground for Butler in recent weeks.

He scored aboard Silent Fox for Mark Currie in maiden company on Saturday night while it was Warilla Gorilla for in-form trainer Nick Keal the week prior.

“I only had one ride last week and went up there to win on Warilla Gorilla for Nick,” he said.

“So, that was good to get my first win back up this way. 

"And, then obviously the one on Saturday night was for the Currie stable, who’ve been a big supporter of mine.

“They gave me five rides the other night and it would have been good to get a couple of winners, but they’ve given me another fair few this weekend.

“I was pretty dirty that only one of them one won on Saturday, they all had every chance. But, I thought I could probably ride at least three winners.

“And, when I got to the last race, I was running out of bullets and I was lucky Silent Fox was just too good for them.

“I think I might have a couple for the Currie stable in town this coming week and then they want me to get back up again to Clifford Park on the Saturday night.”

Toowoomba trainer Keal, who is a former jockey, has prepared three winners from his last five starters.

Butler travels out to Dalby on Tuesday afternoon and he is hopeful of keeping the positive results rolling.

He retains the engagement aboard Warilla Gorilla in the Class 4 Handicap over 1400 metres while in the Two-Year-Old Maiden Plate over 1100 metres, he will partner Barrythebarbaric for Roma trainer Jon Taylor.

“I think Warilla Gorilla can go back-to-back,” Butler said.

“The other two-year-old obviously is first-up and has race experience, he sort of knows what he is doing now.

“But, I do think Warilla Gorilla can win again.”

A noted heavyweight rider, Butler enjoyed a fruitful stint of about eight years living and working out of Central Queensland.

Predominantly riding at Rockhampton and Mackay, he was also a regular at Cairns and Townsville during the rich northern carnival.

He won the first-ever The Archer aboard Emerald Kingdom in 2022 before claiming the feature Callaghan Park event in its third iteration aboard the locally-prepared Namazu.

He also won a Rockhampton Newmarket for Olivia Cairns during his lengthy CQ stint as well as scoring a Battle Of The Bush title aboard Tiger Legend for John Manzelmann in 2024. 

Butler is unlikely to regularly fly back to CQ for midweek provincial meetings in the short-term, preferring to focus on his SEQ commitments, but says when the carnival rolls around in the winter months, he is open to heading back for feature races.