Cully hopes Irish eyes are smiling Tall order: Richard Cully will ride Man Of Class in Saturday's Australian Steeple. Photo: Robert Gunstone He sounds like an Irishman, having spent almost half his life in county Kildare, the home of the Irish thoroughbred and the part of the world where his family originates. He rides like one too, which is hardly surprising as the Irish are famed for their prowess over fences and hurdles. Irish riders dominated the ranks of English jumps racing for the past two decades and, Steven Pateman aside, threaten to exert similar influence on the jump jockeys ranks here. But Richard Cully, one of the tallest jockeys you are likely to see climbing aboard a racehorse, is actually Australian - even though his life, and his work, has taken him on a roundabout route before he has had the chance to demonstrate his talents in his native land. Cully, 31, came to Victoria this season to try to make his name in what is an increasingly competitive list of jumping riders. The lanky jockey - he stands around 180 centimetres - had spent several seasons in New Zealand before moving across the Tasman. He had done well in the Shaky Isles, having won the NZ jumps jockeys premiership twice. Now he is hoping to land one of the country's most storied jumping races at the first time of asking when he rides the Ciaron Maher-trained Man Of Class in the Australian Steeplechase at Sandown on Saturday. Cully still speaks with a thick Irish accent - picked up in his decade there after his family, who lived in Sydney at the time, moved back home when he was 15. The hoop has already ticked off one of Australian jumping's milestones, having ridden a winner at the Warrnambool carnival in May on the Maher-trained Viking Tiger. But winning a feature on a metropolitan Saturday would certainly be a feather in his cap and he is hopeful Man Of Class will be competitive in the 3900-metre steeplechase in which he will be up against the favourite and stable companion Bashboy, who will be partnered by Pateman. He jumps and stays and he has won a Grand National and also at Oakbank, so he has been competitive in this class. Hopefully he will give me a good ride and be in it at the finish," Cully said as he looked forward to what will be only his second mount in the race. Cully's has been a peripatetic career. After moving back to Ireland he began working in a livery yard and riding as an amateur (in Ireland amateur rider's races are held in much higher esteem and often are significant betting events) both on the flat and over obstacles. He spent several years in NZ where he developed his skills further before deciding to come back to Australia, where he quickly forged a relationship with Maher and Patrick Payne, who has a number of jumpers in his stable. Cully has ridden six winners so far this season, and showed he was in good touch at Bendigo on Wednesday when he scored on Jooli Lad for Maher. Both the Australian Steeple and Australian Hurdle have attracted quality fields and sufficient runners for each-way betting, a step in the right direction for jumping as it is often criticised for low turnouts and poor wagering totals. Bashboy aside, the steeple field features Brierley winner Cats Fun. The hurdle has attracted all the stars apart from Black And Bent, with his stablemate Brungle Cry up against the ever consistent Gotta Take Care and Peter Moody's exciting newcomer Macedonian, who blitzed his rivals on his hurdling debut at Sandown last week.