When Emily Harrison makes her long-awaited riding debut at Cobar on Saturday, it will be a triumph and a special moment for the 22-year-old, her family, and friends.
The Wagga-based trackwork rider fought tooth and nail to get her trials done while she battled through injuries and roadblocks to finally get the chance to ride at the races.
“I’ve had a fair few injuries and complications with that,” Harrison told NSW Country and Picnic Racing.
“I had a few setbacks with the training side, too, and I kept falling through the system’s cracks, which put me back quite a bit.
“At the end of the day, I have so much passion for the Industry; I didn’t let it keep me back.”
Harrison spent time with Trevor Sutherland, Rodger Waters, and Scott Spackman but has found her place, spending the past two-and-a-half years working for Tim Donnelly in Wagga while developing a reputation as an excellent trackwork rider.
“Tim has definitely been a huge help to my career, giving me trials and teaching me what I know,” Harrison said.
“Every morning, I’m riding work and love riding for Tim.
“He’s got really good horses and a lot of faith in me, especially putting me on talented horses like Cliff House, and it’s just an amazing feeling to ride a horse like him.”
Funnily enough, the Young product didn’t grow up around gallopers, but her passion for riding led to her parents buying the family a pony.
“I grew up on a property, and we had a goat heard, and well, I rode our goats around the paddock,” Harrison laughed.
“I was probably four or five, and Mum and Dad got us our first pony, and we’re not from a racing family or anything, but that’s what started it.
“Now, I just love horses, and I’ve always been such an adrenalin junky.
“My parents couldn’t keep up with me. I’ve swam with sharks, done sky diving, bungy jumping, and riding horses gives me that same feeling.
“Plus, I’ve got a passion for horses, and I don’t think I would want to do anything else.”
Once she was old enough, the horse-mad youngster started reaching out to local trainers and soon started a good friendship with trainers Debbie Prest and Peter Kirby.
“The biggest people that have helped me are Debbie and Peter; I’ve known them since I was 13 years old,” Harrison said.
“My first ever day working at the races was at Coota picnics, and I strapped for them, and they had people take me around to the barriers, and they have really looked after me since then.
“I am so pumped to ride for them; they gave me my first horse to strap, my first ever track gallop, my first trial, and now my first race ride, and I just want to do them proud after all the years they have had to put up with me.”
To be passed to ride Cobar, Harrison trekked to Dubbo on Sunday for her last required trial, and it was Prest again providing the Wagga amateur jockey with an opportunity as she rode Blinkin Nomore over 1000m.
“I travelled all the way to Dubbo from Wagga, and I was at Wellington the other day, and Debbie gave me my last trial to get my ticket, and now I can finally get out there and race,” Harrison said.
Riding at Cobar on Saturday, Harrison will jump aboard the Allan Prisk-trained Equilibrium in the Cobar Picnic Cup (1700m), the Debbie Prest-trained Blinkin Nomore in the The Copper Sprint Trophy Handicap (1200m), and the Peter Kirby-trained Red Card Rosie in the 1000m Maiden Plate.
“I am a little nervous, but I’m more excited than anything,” Harrison said.
“It’s been a long time coming to get to this stage, and I’m just so excited that I’ve finally made it; I’ll be smiling for a month after this.”
If she can make a real go of it at the picnics, Harrison hopes a career at the professionals is possible, but at the end of the day, she wants to be involved in the racing industry.
“I want to get as much experience as I can and do all I can at the picnics, and hopefully, in a few years, I’d love to transfer to the professionals,” Harrison said.
“I also love the rehoming aspect of the industry, and I’m setting up a little business rehoming thoroughbreds I get from Debbie and Peter, and I also see myself doing a bit of that.
“Really, just working with the racing industry in any way I can is the goal for now.”
The sky appears to be the limit for the young jockey, and for Harrison’s chances and Cobar fields, readers can click here.
