Pioneering racing relative has trainer Plumb for success

By Andrew Smith

With a connection to one of the pioneers of the female riding ranks in Queensland, success runs in the family for Angela Plumb.

The Gold Coast trainer was asked to reflect on the inspirational women in her life ahead of International Women’s Day this Saturday, March 8.

She quickly singled out great-aunt Margot Gaskin (who rode as Margot Childs), who enjoyed a decorated career around South-East Queensland as female jockeys began to make their mark in racing.

“She was one of the first female riders in the late 1970s, and she was a big inspiration to watch” Plumb said.

“Back then there weren’t many female riders and she was one of the first ones to ride against the males.

“A long time ago, it was a male-dominated sport but I think a lot of the women in the decades before me that have been trailblazers have made it a much more equal sport now.

“As a female I’ve never really felt excluded from the sport.”

Gaskin, who was married to Darling Downs trainer Jimmy Childs, rode over 200 winners during the 1970s and 80s, before brain surgery forced her into retirement.

She had been described as “Australia’s leading lady jockey” after chalking up her 41^st victory in one particularly prolific season.

She once rode four winners on the six-race card one day in Dalby in January 1980, with the local newspaper saying the outstanding effort came “despite determined opposition” from the male jockeys also riding that day.

Gaskin fought with fellow female racing pioneers Pam O’Neill, Cheryl Neal and Judy Curran to be officially licensed to ride alongside their male counterparts.

Ultimately, it was O’Neill who would become Australia’s first registered female jockey when she was granted a licence to ride on the Gold Coast in 1979.

With this year’s IWD theme being Accelerate Action, Plumb is buoyed by the growing number of female participants in the industry, with her great-aunt helping pave the way for jockeys.

“Women at the moment - whether it’s riders or trainers - are achieving at the highest level regularly and each year it just continues to grow and grow,” Plumb said.

“I do believe it’s on an upward trajectory - if you look at the apprentices signing up to commence their riding careers, now it’s definitely more 50 per cent females or more, than males.

“There’s a lot more females participating - whether it’s in riding, training, race day officials, vets- there’s definitely a lot more people involved.”

Aside from Gaskin, Plumb's brother Ryan was a jockey, while their grandfather Lyle and father Lyle Jnr were both jockeys and trainers.

Their uncle Myles also was a former champion apprentice in Queensland and rode five winners in a day at Randwick before becoming a trainer overseas.

The 33-year-old is enjoying one of her most prolific seasons to date so far, with six winners and thirteen placings from 68 starts.

Of her last 50 runners, over 60% of them have finished in the money for the stable.

She is on track to make it her best season yet, breaking last year’s record where she had 84 runners go around for seven wins and fourteen placings.

Having commenced training in the 2014/15 season, Plumb currently has a team of seven in work and is hoping to build on those numbers at her Aquis Park base.

“I guess some challenges young trainers face are getting access to bigger owners and purchasing power,” Plumb said.

“A lot of smaller trainers tend to pick up the crumbs of the smaller stables which I’m more than happy to do but I do hope for the future owners recognize my hard work and efforts and I can continue to attract more clients.

“Lately we’ve had a lot of great upgrades to the training facilities here, and I’ve surrounded myself with a very good team of people.

“I’ve got really good staff and trackwork riders, my farriers, vets, and I’ve got a very hands-on approach and we spend a lot of time with the horses.

“Like most trainers, I’m always hoping the young stock come through, and the older horses will keep earning cheques if they’re placed well.”

A huge part of Plumb’s recent success has been exciting four-year-old Lady Shotgun.

The mare won first-up after a spell on the Gold Coast Polytrack in November, before backing it up with another victory weeks later in a Benchmark 65 on the Aquis Park turf.

But it was her victory at the first ever night race meeting on the Gold Coast on December 20, that gave Plumb her biggest thrill.

With 200m left to run, Lady Shotgun was well back in the pack and several runners wide until Jasper Franklin powered the galloper home in a thrilling victory.

“It was a really big crowd, a great atmosphere and winning that night felt like the reception of winning a Group race,” Plumb said.

“I’m obviously very proud of her - I purchased her as a yearling, and I’m a part owner in her as well.

“She took a bit of time to mature but I think now she’s fully matured, she’s been a lot more consistent.”

Lady Shotgun finished well back in the field during January’s Magic Millions Country Cup, but returned to racing last month at Doomben.

She is expected to feature again in next week's $2 million Queensland Jewel race day, which was rescheduled to March 15 due to Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

“At the moment she’s going to keep going through grades and I’m just trying to keep her rating high so I can place her in some better races,” Plumb said.

“I’ll probably be aiming for the Magic Millions next year.”

Now in its eighth year, the Queensland Jewel race day will return to the Gold Coast Turf Club and will be headlined by the $500,000 2YO QTIS Jewel and the $500,000 3YO QTIS Jewel.

Plumb is also likely to nominate Twinkle Time and Shapin Power for the meeting.

She believes that the recent developments at the Aquis Park complex, including the installation of lighting for night racing, will be crucial to bringing in new fans to racing.

“I think you only had to be at the first night meeting to see the excitement it generated,” Plumb said.

“I think that for the future of racing we need to continue to attract younger crowds, younger people and the best way to do that is by putting on good shows.

“I think the Gold Coast Turf Club and CEO Steve Lines have done a really great job with and I hope the night racing continues to grow.”