Peter Hibberd, The Buloke Times
To be inducted into Racing Victoria’s jockey program is a dream for many aspiring jockeys. To win at your first race ride and join a very elite club, that is something else.
Last Friday at the Donald racing centre all these dreams were realised when 25-year-old apprentice jockey Sarah Field won her first race at her first ride on the aptly-named Field Of Flutes.
Growing up in a racing family, her destiny was always to be a jockey. In her younger days, she attended pony club, trail riding and in trials. Not being a school person, an easy way out was to ride track work.
At the age of 18 years she took up residence in Ballarat and worked for Matt Cumani for 3 years. She had applied many times over the past decade to be accepted into the jockeys’ program, but was knocked back.
In March this year she was accepted and is now working with one of Australia’s leading stables in the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace team.
On track I had never seen more support for a jockey, with mum, dad, grandmother, aunties, uncles, nieces, nephews and friends; the noise as the horse crossed the finishing line and returned to the mounting yard was beyond belief. The smile on Sarah’s face simply said it all.
Racing began on a heavy 8 rating, with race times improving in the early races. The track was upgraded to a soft 7 after race 4. One of Victoria’s jockeys, Dean Yendall, returning after a little holiday, enjoyed success with two winners.
Results
Race one: Favourite punters got off to a good start when Merchelle, ridden by Linda Meech, had a comfortable win, defeating the Birchip-owned Mrs Bull with Perdition in third placing.
Race two: Horses having their first race starts often make it hard for punters, but in this race the two unraced horses, Charities and Iron Bar, were well-supported and they ran accordingly. Charities, ridden by Dean Yendall, raced on the pace and won, defeating Iron Bar ridden by Harry Coffey, and in third placing was Brechen.
Race three: Gimme Gold, after a close second at its first race start previously at Donald, had to respond to hard riding from Jarrod Fry to win its first race. Only had a neck margin, defeating Lady Of Steel, ridden by Jaylah Kennedy; in third placing was Radstar. This horse, like the previous winner, was trained in Warrnambool.
Race four: Savabool, trained by Paul Pruesker and ridden by Dean Yendall, led all the way to win the 2210 metre maiden race. The place-getters were Kimmorley and Early Warning. There is a group of owners from St. Arnaud involved with this horse.
Race five: In a smaller field, the race was just as competitive. The winner, Anewdaydawning, sat back last in the race, but with a very good pace. On the home turn, the field packed and jockey Harry Grace made his move on the eventual winner to go to the lead and win at the odds of $7.00. The place-getters were the well-supported By The Sword and Literati.
Race six: The headline says it all. The place-getters were Glock and Harbin. The time was 59.25 seconds. At this time of the year, very few 1000 metre races are in under a minute.
Jockey dislodged
Just after the start, Prauro dislodged jockey Rose Hammond. Rose was assessed on course and transferred to the Bendigo hospital. The last two races were put back due to waiting for another ambulance.
Race seven: Another winner from the Warrnambool trainer area, this time Yellow Sam, ridden by Beau Mertens. It has now raced on five occasions for 3 wins and 2 placings. Place-getters were Always Hapi and Awapuni Princess.
Race eight: A former New Zealand horse, Spylark, trained by Henry Dwyer, although still learning, showed with a 4-length win he might be a horse to follow. Part-owned by Josh Millar, who is well-known to Donald Committee members, it returned an amazing $16 win dividend. In second and third placing were Pythagoras and Rivivy Kenz.
This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 25 July 2023.
