Apprentice female jockeys put on a show at Roma

By Jordan Gerrans

Up-and-coming female riders are flying in the bush.

While it has become somewhat common for female jockeys to ride the entire card at meetings in the Sunshine State – it has occurred at Rockhampton and Toowoomba in recent times – the riders have been a mixture of senior and apprentice hoops.

At Roma’s Bassett Park on Saturday afternoon, female apprentices scooped all of the races on offer.

And, it was not just a regular five event non-TAB race day in the Downs Country Racing Association, it was a massive eight race program.

The youngsters who did the damage were Liv O'Donnell, Sariah Champkin, Sarah Robbins (pictured) and Alisha Donald.

In her first day back in the saddle after an injury lay-off, local Roma apprentice O'Donnell picked up a winning double, as did Toowoomba hoop Champkin while Donald was the most prolific, picking up a treble.

Shane Scriven - Racing Queensland's Senior Apprentice Coach – cannot remember another occurrence when female apprentices rode the entire card, with a program consisting of so many races.

“I would be confident to say this is the first time this has happened,” Scriven said.

“I cannot think of another time when this would have occurred and it is a testament to the girls riding skills and attitude.

“Hopefully, it is the first of many to come when young apprentices ride the entire card.”

On a Saturday In late October last year, Ross (pictured) was a part of history around Queensland with female riders winning every race at two different tracks - Gladstone before the sun went down and Toowoomba under lights.

The feat also occurred at provincial level at Rockhampton just over a decade ago, as well. 

It is not even rare these days to see female riders be the only jockeys at country race meetings, it happened at Monto Race Club last year and at Clermont in October 2020 which featured seven different female riders.

Champkin – who works for the Sears stable on the Darling Downs – realised what her fellow riders had achieved as the races progressed on Saturday.

“It was a really good day for all of us,” Champkin said.

“Female apprentices are getting up there more and now we are getting more of a go after seeing what Angela Jones and Jasmine Cornish have done, they have taken it on.

“I think other apprentices are really trying hard now following on from their success.”

It was a big few days for Champkin after she rode a winner for her bosses at Gatton on Friday afternoon, as well.

While it was a significant day for the entire female jockey ranks at Roma, it was even more special for O'Donnell after she spent the last five months on the sidelines with a collarbone injury.

Following a race fall, the collarbone required surgery and the 22-year-old rode on Saturday like she had hardly missed a beat, piloting two winners and a second-place from just three bookings.

As she only had three rides, O'Donnell headed off from the races before the final event and was shocked to realise what had occurred once she checked the results later in the evening.

“I did not even realise that all of us girls got up until I looked at the results at the end of the day,” O'Donnell said.

“I had a look back on the website because I left early as I only had three rides on the day, which were in the first few races, but when I realised, I knew how great it was.

“It was awesome.”

Champkin mentioned being spurred on by prolific apprentices such as Jones and Cornish from the provincial ranks last season, while O'Donnell says Group 1 hoop Jamie Kah is also an inspiration.

“The girls are coming through and Jamie Kah is someone we all look up to, it is really good for racing,” O'Donnell said.

“We have big numbers of girls coming through the ranks.

“I know these results are in the bush but that is where you have to start to make it as a jockey.”

While Roma’s country meeting was not broadcast across Sky Racing on Saturday, the 21-year-old Champkin (pictured) believes the eight winners for the female apprentices is just as meaningful as if it happened on a full-fledged TAB day.

“These are country non-TAB races but they are just as important as provincial ones for trainers and owners,” Champkin said.

“To win a race, no matter what kind of race or where, it still means a lot to them and it means a lot to us as jockeys, as well.”

Scriven – who was a Group 1 winning rider before taking on the job of teaching apprentices – says there is great appetite for female teenagers to enter the jockey ranks in Queensland.

“We are seeing it in our apprentice intake over the last couple of years it has been about 75-80 percent female riders and I think it will only rise again in the coming years,” Scriven said.

“They are doing good.”

The female apprentice ranks are so strong that fellow apprentices Sophie Wilcock, Olivia Kendal and Anna Bakos also rode at the Roma meeting on Saturday but they had to settle for minor placings being their best results for the afternoon.