Trailblazing jockey chasing more success in Country Stampede Final

By Jordan Gerrans

The first female jockey to ever lift the Birdsville Cup is leading one of the most unlikely charges to win the Country Stampede Final at Doomben on Saturday afternoon.

Two decades ago, Rebecca Kerwin became the first female rider to claim the famous Birdsville Cup on the dirt in Outback Queensland.

She did so on a mare named Marauding Lass.

All these years on, Kerwin is now preparing a small team of gallopers at Roma as well as still working in the racing industry. 

The 44-year-old Kerwin only ever has a couple of horses of her own in work but she has proved to have the magic touch with mare Miss Hoff.

Just a few months ago, Miss Hoff was a Class 1 galloper who had more trials to her name than actual race starts.

Previously prepared by the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott team as well as a stint with Matthew Smith, Miss Hoff had 10 trial efforts up until June of this year with just six times facing the starter on race day.

Since landing in Roma, Miss Hoff has strung together four victories from five starts, with the latest of those wins being a Country Stampede qualifier.

Kerwin’s partner and fellow trainer Ben Waldron thinks the daughter of Flying Artie should have an unblemished record in regional Queensland.

“She probably should be five from five, she was very unlucky at Longreach the day she got beaten,” Waldron said.

“She totally blew the start and just got beat, she was stone motherless early on.”

From having just one maiden victory on her resume to being a contender for the Country Stampede Final inside one preparation, it has been a stunning rise for the five-year-old mare.

She has quickly motored through the grades, claiming a Benchmark 55 Handicap on debut in Queensland and in her most recent outing she scored in a Quality Open Handicap.

She won through to the CS decider by winning a Charleville heat by two lengths early last month.

"She has been good to us," Kerwin said. 

Waldron has been training for a couple of decades in the bush and says it is very rare to see a galloper go bang as Miss Hoff has done in her first attempt in their new surroundings.

“Generally, when you buy them out of the south they take a preparation to settle in,” Waldron said.

“We buy a lot of tried horses and usually the following prep they come back a lot better.

“She is a bit of an exception; she came up and just started winning.

“It is a big effort to do what she has done; it does not happen like this very often.”

After drawing wide in the CS Final, the bookmakers have Miss Hoff as a $12 chance as of Friday morning.

Veteran Toowoomba jockey Shannon Apthorpe has been in the saddle of the Kerwin-prepared mare in her last three starts and he has retained the ride for the Doomben show-piece event.

Apthorpe has had the winning touch in feature races this year after claiming the Cairns Amateur Cup in FNQ aboard striking grey galloper Sayl.

As well as her Birdsville Cup, Kerwin also boasts a Roma Cup as a jockey.

She has not ridden in a race since 2014.

Kerwin conditions a team of two horses as well as working on the ground for leading Roma trainer Craig Smith.

Waldron has five in work himself.

The ownership group – which includes Blackall-based connections - purchased Miss Hoff for just $8,500 in an online sale.

They are racing in a $105,000 event on Saturday after winning four races since the start of September.

A change in the mare’s work schedule has led to turning her career around, Waldron thinks.

“It was not looking really good when we first bought her as she was a bit of a lunatic,” Waldron said.

“She has seemed to settle down now out there and is a bit more quieter now. She is going a lot better since she has settled down a bit, she was a bit highly strung.

“We only take her to the race track now for her gallops, we just work her in the paddock and in the bull ring.”

The town of Roma will be well represented on Saturday in the city in the Finals of the Country Stampede and Country Cups Challenge.

As well as Kerwin, local trainers Smith and Wayne Baker will also have runners across the races.

Roma Turf Club co-president Peter Flynn said it was pleasing to see the club so well represented in Saturday’s Finals at Doomben, highlighting that seven of the entries for both races either come from Roma stables or won on Roma Cup day to qualify.