Ace Lawson-Carroll a young jockey on the rise

Ace Lawson-Carroll is a young jockey on the rise.
That’s become a fact in recent months as the 19-year-old from Whakatane has piled on the winners, capped by his victory on Hula Beat in the last major northern region race of the 2023-24 season, the Taumarunui Gold Cup.
Wearing the ubiquitous blue and white colours of Westbury Stud owner Gerry Harvey on the home-bred son of Redwood, Lawson-Carroll not only claimed the biggest win of his three-year career in last week’s Te Rapa feature, but he also credited perennial trainers’ premiership runner-up Stephen Marsh with his third consecutive century of wins.
Marsh is one of a number of high-profile trainers to make use of Lawson-Carroll. As well as his Byerley Park-based employers Shaun and Emma Clotworthy, they also include the just concluded season’s equal third premiership placegetters, Awapuni-based Lisa Latta and Matamata partners Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott.
Lawson-Carroll signed off the old season with a Te Rapa double completed by the O’Sullivan/Scott-trained Jaffira and kicked off the new term at Ruakaka last Saturday by winning for his bosses on Quill. He missed another Saturday double by mere inches when combining with Master Fay to push class galloper Crocetti to a head in the day’s feature sprint.
With 28 wins last season and a seven-figure stakes tally, making for a career total of 58, the stockily-built Maori lad admits he’s come a long way for someone who hadn’t ridden in a saddle until four years ago.
“When I was growing up down in Whakatane we used to ride bush hacks around the paddock with just a made-up bridle and a sack,” Lawson-Carroll told RaceForm. “It was pretty hairy but it did teach me how to keep your balance on a horse’s back.
“I ended up finishing my schooling in South Auckland at Papakura High, which was a big culture shock after Whakatane, but I didn’t really enjoy school and I suppose I was looking for something else.
“My Dad got talking with a former jockey, Roly Saxton, and he suggested if I was on the small side it might be worth looking at becoming a jockey.”
Long story short, Lawson-Carroll was introduced to the Clotworthys, thought the idea of a jockey career might at least be worth a shot – and he hasn’t looked back.
“Ace started working here on weekends and during school holidays and then when Covid struck he ended up staying here permanently,” Shaun Clotworthy said. “He’s just a good young man, he gets on well with everyone, he’s got an excellent work ethic and he’s very grounded.
“Even now with him being in demand and having busy days at the races, when he gets back to the stables afterwards he’ll put on his work clothes and chip in to get the job done.
“With that sort of attitude and the support he’s getting, he’s definitely got a bright future ahead of him.”
Amongst those supporters is Westbury Stud general manager Russell Warwick, whose broad oversight includes Gerry Harvey’s large New Zealand racing string, which at last count comprised more than 80 individual starters last season across 35 stables nationwide.
In part due to the Clotworthy stable being one of those, as well as Byerley Park being in close proximity to Westbury’s Karaka headquarters, Warwick has taken a close interest in Ace-Lawson’s career trajectory.
“It’s been wonderful to see Ace develop like he has, from someone whose confidence and skills have gradually come together to become a young jockey with a gift the way horses travel for him.
“After Hula Beat ran second in a Rating 75 race at Te Rapa at the start of July, we decided he was worth aiming at the Taumarunui Cup, but still being on a low rating he was going to be on the minimum.
“Ace hadn’t ridden the horse but I put it to Stephen that he was worth considering, plus of course his claim would reduce his weight by another two kilos.
“Stephen agreed it was worth a shot, so I sat down with Ace and ran through the horse’s tapes with him. You can imagine it was very satisfying to see them combine so well, even if things got a bit tight at the top of the straight.
“To his credit, Ace didn’t panic when he was in tight quarters and between him and the horse they got the job done.
“He’s come a long way from being stood down by the stewards last November and having to go through things with the riding masters. Leith Innes has been a big help to him, which is all part of these young riders getting the help they need to be competing against the best.”
Lawson-Carroll is enjoying every aspect of his career, buoyed by increasing success and thriving under a heavy workload.
“I owe so much to the Clotworthys, the way they taught me the basics when I knew nothing and got me going, and now for others to be doing the same,” he says. “I couldn’t have done any of this without them.
“I’ve got about another year of my apprenticeship to go, so the goal this season is to lose my claim and it will be good to come out of my time and maybe with my apprentice fund I’ll be able to buy a house or even some land.
“I love being busy, having plenty to do, I love it. I think I’d go crazy if I didn’t work.
“My family think it’s pretty good to see what I’m achieving but they still don’t understand much about racing. But nor did I not that long ago, so that’s okay!”