jockey looking for agent and job

Question
my name is vernon standley jr,Im 53 yrs old,I rode race horses in the late 70s,I have been back riding for 2 yrs,after 30 yrs of riden bulls, i weigh 117 lbsand would like to get my bug lic and an agent,so i can ride on a big track.I ride thrbrd and quarter horse.and have been riding on a brush track in san antino tx.Im hopping someone might help me get on my way. thank you.

Answer
Hi Vernon,
           Sorry it has taken me a while to answer this. I have been away visiting family in another part of New Zealand.
Good on you for wanting to get back in the saddle in the racing industry. I assume the reason you asked me is that you are interested in coming to New Zealand to try your luck here. We are always looking for good jockeys, especially ones with plenty of experience.
You would find a lot of stables in New Zealand would be keen to have a senior jockey working for them although things are quite different here. Most jockeys have an agent who arranges race rides for them however because our racing industry is quite small everybody knows everybody else so it does not take long to get known.
Most of our better jockeys also ride in Australia when the opportunity arises as the stakes there are much higher.
If you are keen to come here I can arrange to introduce you to some agents and give you some pointers to trainers who would be keen to talk to you.
Check out www.nzracing.co.nz, www.tab.co.nz, and www.searchnz.co.nz which is our local search engine.
Good luck,
Don Boddie
New Zealand.