Joe Agresta’s passion for racehorses harboured a dream to become a successful jockey who would be chased by the best Melbourne racing stables.
He got his chance, but then reality set in. The dreaded curse of many jockeys – weight - got him and he realised he wasn’t good enough to make it.
Agresta developed a duodenal ulcer through wasting and was warned by a doctor he’d be dead in six months if he kept going.
The horror of his first race ride would still haunt lesser men.
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