A rugby league legend Billy Slater has blown viewers away in his new role during this year’s spring racing action in a new gig.
The Queensland State of Origin coach has shifted gears, joining Nine’s coverage of the Melbourne Cup carnival.
Slater, a trackwork jockey as a teenager, remains active in the racing industry as a horse owner, and through the breeding stable operation he manages with his wife Nicole — Slater Thoroughbreds.
His return to the saddle comes 25 years since he was last a trackwork jockey for racing icon Gai Waterhouse.
Slater nailed it on his first day in the saddle as the network’s “horseback reporter”, interviewing victorious jockeys after they went past the post.
Slater says he feels honored because he feels like he got the best seat in the house in Flemington, on Nine’s coverage of Derby Day on Saturday.
