Welcoming Scott Leckey To The Dabble Family

Words by David Galbally, GM Brand & Consumer Marketing.

As LUCK would have it

Scott Leckey was a Jockey who had enjoyed a promising start to his professional career as a former champion apprentice in South Australia. When I spoke to Scott, he told me he was in ‘the right place at the right time’ and considers himself a lucky guy. It’s this kind of attitude that has you instantly intrigued about his story and his journey.

It’s strange to hear someone describe themselves as a lucky guy when you learn they suffered brain and neck injuries after a horrific fall from a horse. Scott has a physical disability and after 15 years of intense (to say the least) physical therapy and speech therapy, he’s regained a little use of the right side of his body, while still working with short-term memory loss and daily rehabilitation in order to maintain the progress he’s made.

A CHANCE meeting

I was grabbing a morning coffee with my wife, Jade, before visiting the Dabble Adelaide hub. Jade had recently launched her own women’s activewear range and noticed the shorts on a fella sitting at the table next to us. Fondly named ‘The Parrot’ by my father, because she doesn’t mind a chat, Jade struck up a conversation, beginning with those striking shorts.

As a result, we learnt about Scott’s story.

A chance meeting would uncover an immediate fit.

As we sipped lattes and chatted further about racing and betting, it was immediately obvious that this was not the last time I would be speaking with Scott. Having just launched the Dabble brand to market, Dabble was beginning its own journey as we discovered how we could create engaging content within its (already amazing) socialised betting platform.  As a result, we’re always on the look-out for talented sport and racing enthusiasts. I quickly realised that our online community would be a suitable and accessible environment for Scott to work in. As luck and a chance meeting would have it, we’re now in the early stage of working with Scott.

Scott’s great love is racing. You can take the boy out of the saddle, but his obsession and passion for racing is startling. Scott maintains a connection to the industry by writing for local businesses, as well as regular visits to the local track at Morphettville. Scott also fits in at least  one annual trip to the Darwin Cup, where he had his accident – but this hasn’t changed how much he loves these visits. Throwing down a bet is a favourite hobby. Scott has a very interesting and unique perspective on both life and gambling: he visualises how he would ride the horse in that race.

Scott now writes content on the Dabble platform, giving users a unique insight into each race and tipping horses through the eyes of a jockey. We’re very excited to see where this relationship goes and the kinds of opportunities we can unlock for each other.

FORTUNE favours the brave

They say you need a bit of luck in the run to win a race. Maybe Scott’s right: he was lucky in that fall, not unlucky to fall at Darwin’s Fannie Bay. Fortune favours the brave. You get back what you put into life. Scott’s view of life is incredible as he lives his best life with a smile that’s contagious. This chance meeting has reminded me to be grateful every day and to remain inquisitive about the possibilities our exciting new product offering can offer our customers and content contributors.

We hope that Dabble can be an avenue for Scott to further connect to the love of his life, racing, and enable him to share his knowledge and insights with the Dabble community.

David Galbally,

GM Brand & Consumer Marketing.