Comin'through (foreground) races in the Barfoot & Thompson Twilight Cup at Ellerslie tonight. Photo / Race Images
Comin'through (foreground) races in the Barfoot & Thompson Twilight Cup at Ellerslie tonight. Photo / Race Images
We mentioned in Monday's Herald the qualities required in a successful young jockey and perfect balance was near the top of the 30-something desirables.
If you want a great example don't miss South Australia's Jamie Kah riding at Ellerslie today in the Jockey World Cup Prelude.
Kah may not have been born on the back of a racehorse, but in riding out a tight finish she gives the impression she is part of the horse. Her balance is as truly remarkable as her success in the last two years.
She turned 22 just last Thursday yet is already on her way to her third successive Adelaide Jockeys' Premiership. The 129 wins she clocked during the 2016-17 season is historically the highest by a female jockey.
Yet it could all have come to nothing. Three years ago Kah's close friend, fellow jockey Caitlin Forrest, was killed in a race fall at Murray Bridge, outside Adelaide. Kah's world crashed around her. As a late teenager, the horror and sadness decked her.
"I needed time away from the industry and I packed up and went overseas for six months," she says, adding that without the break she would not be riding today.
"I went overseas and went to Holland and worked for a show jumping stable and that was a lot of fun," she told Racenet. "Then I met up with (ex jockey) Libby Hopwood and we just travelled around Europe, did a Contiki tour and let our hair down and ran amok."
"It was a bit like a gap year for me, because I never really had one, and it gave me the time and space I needed to recharge and really start to miss riding in Australia.
"I can honestly say if I hadn't done that, I wouldn't be riding today."
Jamie Kah. Photo / AAP
Kah describes herself as a "farm girl at heart" and she is rarely happier than when she is on her 8ha property at Mount Pleasant, about 50km northeast of Adelaide. It gives her an escape from racing, somewhere she can turn her mobile phone off and work with former racehorses for which she tries to find new homes.
Kah joined high profile Melbourne-based jockey Dwayne Dunn to represent South Australia in the Australian State Of Origin jockeys' series held in Queensland at the weekend. The series was won by Clare Lindop and Luke Nolan for Victoria, but Kah showed what all the fuss over her riding is about when she won the Listed Brisbane Handicap at Doomben last Friday in a race outside the series. Second in that series was NSW on 20 points, one behind the winner with New Zealand (Damian Browne and Larry Cassidy), South Australia and Tasmania equal on 18.
It was a good experience for this evening's Ellerslie meeting. "I hadn't ridden right-handed until I went to Queensland at the weekend and now I'm really looking forward to getting to Ellerslie."
Ellerslie is not only a track for good riders, but its unique blend of turns with rises and dips can be difficult for first-time jockeys. Kah and fellow Australians Ben Allen and Damian Lane will be on equal footing there in their lack of Ellerslie experience. Jason Collett, who arrived with them, knows Ellerslie perfectly.
As the go-to jockey for champion trainer Tony McEvoy, Kah will be well versed in doing her homework.
New Zealand is represented in the series by Danielle Johnson, Matt Cameron, Chris Johnson, Alysha Collett, Michael Coleman, Sam Weatherley, Shaun McKay and Sam Collett.
• Donna Logan and Chris Gibbs will play a strong hand in the feature event at this evening's meeting at Ellerslie and Comin'through has been tipped as their trump card. The Ruakaka trainers will be represented by the improving four-year-old, who will be joined in the Barfoot & Thompson Twilight Cup (1500m) by Romancer and Toorak Tower.
"Obviously, Comin'through is a stayer and on his way to get over more ground and it's hard to pick one, but I'd go for him," Gibbs said.
The son of Bullbars resumed on the course two runs back and put in a strong performance to finish third before he was unplaced at Pukekohe.
