Legendary Tasmanian jockey Max Baker still in the saddle

Set to celebrate his 75^th birthday on Monday, the Longford father-of-three has entered his third decade of riding thanks to a new-found love for cycling.

Cutting his teeth with the veterans bunch, who start and finish at JJ's Bakery on Longford's main strip, Baker now favours shorter rides.

"My eldest son Tony gave me a bike - he thought it'd be good for me, good exercise and he was right," Baker said.

"I've been riding for seven to eight years and I really enjoy it."

Baker's love for riding began at an early age.

His introduction to horses came through a family connection, although perhaps not the kind one would expect.

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"My parents weren't interested in horses," he recalled.

"Dad was a shearer and he shore at a farm just out at Longford Hythe and Mrs Hibberd who owned the property had ponies.

"She asked Dad whether I'd like to go and ride the ponies so that's how it started - I went to the shows and then progressed to the hunts.

"When I was about 15, a racehorse trainer from Deloraine, Tom McCauley, realised I was an alright rider and offered me an apprenticeship so I went there and did my apprenticeship at Deloraine. That's where I met my wife Barbara."

The first of Baker's 1124 career wins came as a 15-year-old at Spreyton in 1960, and he soon became Tasmania's first apprentice to 100 wins.

With Barbara's help, Baker juggled running a Deloraine petrol station and winning five straight jockey premierships in the late '60s and early '70s before opportunity came knocking in the racing heartland of Victoria.

A four-year move north of Bass Strait saw Baker rise through the ranks to become Victoria's leading country rider and one of the top 10 metro riders, taking Captain Peri to third in the 1974 Melbourne Cup.

He finished his 24-year career in Tasmania with another four jockey premierships and a record that boasted seven Newmarkets, six Devonport Cups and three Launceston Cups.

Baker's Devonport record went unmatched until Craig Newitt - a jockey whose career bears more than a few similarities to his own - secured his sixth title aboard Newhart earlier this month.

"Craig came from Tassie originally and was a very successful jockey in Victoria and did really well," Baker said.

"He's a top-class jockey who came back to live here and he's doing exceptionally well - good luck to him if he can break the record.

"While it'd be disappointing for a record to go, records are made to be broken and for him to do it would be good because he is a really top-class jockey."

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Baker rates the current generation of Australian jockeys as every bit as good as those he faced during his glittering career.

He lists the trend of jockeys riding shorter with only their toe in the iron as one of few changes in recent decades and continues to hold a keen interest in Tasmanian racing.

"I keep an eye on the riders and horses that come from Tassie and I'm always pleased when they do well," he said.

"The last couple of years we've had a really good horse from here, Mystic Journey, she's won two really big races and really put Tassie on the map which is good.

"A good friend of mine and old jockey colleague Ricky Currie, his son Luke is one of the leading jockeys in Victoria so I follow his career closely and also Raquel Clark - she's from Tassie and she's done very well in Adelaide the last couple of years.

"Unfortunately just recently she had a bad fall, so hopefully she'll recover."

Before her injury, Penguin 26-year-old Clark had been named South Australian jockey of the year and was building an impressive list of credentials.

Baker credited the increasing participation of women jockeys with keeping the racing industry vibrant, but lamented unfortunate fall statistics.

"They just came in my era the female jockeys and I must admit most of us male jockeys were against it, but I think if they weren't in there racing would be really struggling," Baker said.

"The girls are very successful and there's a lot of them doing well now, even on the biggest stages like Victoria and New South Wales.

"Particularly with the whip restrictions I think girls are much more kind to horses - they're probably not as strong as the male jockey but horses seem to go really well for most females.

"For the industry it's just as well there but unfortunately for whatever reason there seems to be more of them have bad falls."

None of Baker's children or four grandchildren have taken up riding professionally, however all are proud of their father and grandfather's achievements.

Nearing his full first decade of a new kind of riding, the Tasmanian sport hall of fame 'legend' happily admits to still being more at home with reins than handlebars.

"Oh no - hopefully I was a lot better jockey than I am a bike rider," Baker laughed.

"It's entirely different of course - it might be different in a race but you have a lot more control over a bike than a horse - the horses are moving."

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