A year after her move from Albury to Queanbeyan, Coriah Keatings has found her feet and has been frequenting the winner’s circle.
The 22-year-old has hit the ground running in 2023/24, bringing up eight winners.
In September, the apprentice won races at Canberra (x 2) and Queanbeyan, while last month, Keatings landed victories at Moruya and Bombala.
The in-form hoop kicked off November strongly, riding a winner at Tumut’s Derby Day meeting before bringing up another victory at Canberra.
It hasn’t been all smooth sailing, and Keatings admitted that there were some ‘dry spells’ in 2022/23.
“I started my career with a bit of momentum and hit a really slow spell,” Keatings said.
“It’s such a competitive game, and it’s all about opportunities and being around the right people, and I was struggling but still putting in a lot of hard work and doing the hours to build the connections with trainers.
“Things have turned around a bit, and I’m starting to ride a lot more confidently, and I’m backing myself.
“I know the ability is there and that I can do it, and now I’ve got that confidence, and you can see that in my results.”
Keatings quickly praised those in her inner circle, including partner and fellow jockey Ryan Bradley and her new manager, Jordan Matthews, who books rides for the likes of Amy McLucas, Jackson Murphy, Corey Bayliss, and Olivia Webb.
“It’s all sort of coming together now; a lot of credit goes to my new manager Jordy Matthews as I’ve been working with him, and he is so professional with what he does, and he puts in the extra yards to get my name out there,” Keatings said.
“Plus, I started with Donna Scott, and I moved to Nick Olive’s a year ago; my partner is Ryan Bradley, who is also a jockey, and we were doing long distance for a while, and I loved it at Donna’s, but I wasn’t getting a lot of opportunities, and moving here helped me out a lot mentally.
“With the support of Ryan, we can bounce off each other because you get your good days and bad days, but I’ve really enjoyed the move.
“Being in Canberra, even a lot of the senior jockeys there are willing to help me out, and Billy Owen and Damon Budler have helped me a lot, and they talk with me after every ride, and now I’ve ridden a few races, everyone is starting to click and come a lot more naturally.”
Olive is one of Keatings biggest supporters, with the leading trainer happy for the young apprentice to ride outside work.
“I was a bit hesitant coming from the country to a bigger city, but it has been a good base, and Nick has been awesome,” Keatings said.
“He is really good and so supportive and lets me ride a lot of outside work, and even the environment there is good; I was in a bit of a low there, and Nick was always there to pick me up and encourage me.
“I think having him motivate me has been massive, and he is always happy to see me get a winner.”
Keatings has set a few goals for this season, and she touched on what she wants to get out of the next nine to ten months.
“I just want to keep working on my strike rate; riding quality over quantity is something I want to work on,” Keatings said.
“I’m starting to get offered a couple of rides in races, so Jordy will pick the right ones, and it’s down to me to give them the best chance.
“In terms of goals, i’d like to be up there in the Rising Star this year and also win the Canberra apprenticeship series, which I’m leading now.”
It shapes to be a busy little period for the young hoop, and this week, she’ll ride at Queanbeyan on Monday.
