Home comforts mean everything for Jaylah Kennedy.
The Mosgiel-raised, Australian-based apprentice jockey will today make an emotional Wingatui debut on Melbourne Cup Day.
It is the track where she first learned her trade, and she will become the fourth generation of her family — following parents Debbie and Terry Kennedy, grandfather Hec Anderton, and great-grandfather Hector Anderton — to ride at the home of the Otago Racing Club.
"It’s where it all began for me," Kennedy (22) told the Otago Daily Times.
"I can still remember trotting around the Wingatui ambulance track with Mum, and her giving me 101 instructions, and I remember my first gallop there.
"To go back now as an apprentice is going to be pretty special.
"I’m excited, and my family are really excited."
Riding in her home Carefree Stables colours, while also honouring grandfather Hec, who has been dealing with health issues, would be special, she said.
"I know my granddad has always wanted to watch me ride. It’s a really good opportunity to come home and see my family, and for them to watch me ride.
"It’s not about trying to get a lot of winners. It’s just the fact I can ride for Dad.
"That’s more important to me than any winner."
Kennedy who is based in Ballarat, in Victoria, began riding as an apprentice jockey nine months ago, and had the most recent of her 35 wins on Saturday.
"I was in disbelief more than anything.
"It was a feeling that ... you just get hooked on it and you just want to keep riding as many winners as you can."
Her biggest win was in a $100,000 race at a Cranbourne night meeting last month.
Kennedy is part of the elite four-year Racing Victoria apprentice jockey programme.
It is a demanding life but the former Taieri College pupil would choose no other.
"It’s very full-on. Lots of hours in the car travelling, and it’s more of a mental game than anything, but I’m loving it.
"You’ve got to do the work if you want to get the results.
"Some days, you need to work for the motivation. You might have an ordinary book of rides and you go to the races thinking, is it worth it?
"But I do love it. I love trying to get the best out of a horse, whether they’re paying $1.50 or they’re 50-to-one."
The picks
| Melbourne | Wingatui | |
Sharyn Anderton Otago Racing Club president |
Vauban |
Burgie |
Noelle Prince Otago Racing Club general manager |
Vauban |
Burgie |
Hayden Meikle ODT sports editor |
Soulcombe |
Henry Hubber |
