BY HIS own admission Sydney racing turned Daniel Ganderton into a big-head and he was forced to leave the harbour city after burning far too many bridges.
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Ganderton said success came to him too easily and he got caught up in the bright lights.
The former champion apprentice is now back in Tasmania and has a ride in today's $100,000 Devonport Cup as he takes the next step in trying to resurrect his career.
Ganderton was earmarked by champion Sydney trainer Gai Waterhouse as a rider of the future and she arranged for him to join her Randwick stables in February 2008.
It didn't take long for Waterhouse's faith in Ganderton to be rewarded as he went on to be the leading apprentice in New South Wales in 2008-09 and the world appeared to be his oyster.
``It all became too much and I know Gai tried to guide me away from what was happening,'' he said.
``I suddenly started to battle with injury and not a lot of dedication and in the end I decided to leave Sydney.''
Ganderton chose Perth as his destination mainly because he hardly knew anyone in Western Australia and it was a chance to start afresh.
``Unfortunately, opportunities were hard to come by and I didn't get a lot of rides,'' he said.
The 25-year-old is back home in Tasmania, at least until the end of the summer racing carnival, and will make up his mind after the Launceston Cup what the future holds for him.
Ganderton will ride bottom weight Come Follow Me for premier trainers David and Scott Brunton.