They might be a couple off the track, but once the goggles are on and the gates crash back, amateur jockeys Tamsin Gough and Nicholas Perrett are happy to fight each other tooth and nail for the win.
“He tries to have a laugh with me,” Gough quipped when quizzed on their on-track rivalry.
“I say to him, ‘I’m going to beat you’, and he knows we’re not allowed to joke about it until we pass the post.”
The pair, who are based in Muswellbrook, dominated the Mallawa picnic meeting on Saturday, combining to win four of the six races.
Gough – riding for Natasha Hall-Antonio – won on Let’sgetridiculous ($2.20) in the 1200m Maiden Plate and Opal Glory ($2.40) in the 1400m Class B Handicap.
Perrett also landed a double, winning on the Douglas Fernando-trained Bed Talk ($10) in the 1200m Class Three Handicap before making it a family affair when helping the Andy Perrett-trained The Tapster ($3.20) to a good win in the 1000m Class Two Handicap.
He almost had a treble and a victory in the Mallawa Picnic Cup, with the Andy Perrett-trained Thundozer beaten a nostril in the $12,000 feature by the Peter Sinclair-trained Fiocchi (Ricky Blewitt).
The couple’s path to Mallawa and other picnic race days is an interesting one.
Gough has been riding at the picnics since February, where she won on debut at Bathurst before bringing up wins at Tullibigeal and Bourke.
Once a promising apprentice jockey, Perrett now drives all over the state with Gough and had been 12 months out of the racing saddle before returning at Coonamble earlier this month.
The 31-year-old coincidently brought up a double and his last winner at Mallawa in 2022, so Saturday’s results signalled a triumphant and timely return to race riding.
“It was good to see him riding, but he wasn’t going to come back,” Gough said.
“He kept telling everyone, ‘I’m retired, I’m retired’, and people wanted him to come back, so he decided to come back and ride until I go professional.”
For Gough, a winning double was the boost the 19-year-old needed as she continued her path to the professional jockey ranks.
Working for Kelly Barber’s pre-training and spelling team, Gough is still around horses daily, but she conceded that she only has a little time to work race horses and train for the races.
“There was a bit there where I wasn’t getting winners and wasn’t riding the best,” Gough said.
“I work full time, meaning I don’t just ride trackwork, and I don’t have days to exercise; I was almost going to sack myself.”
Perrett is one of the reasons Gough has stuck with it, with the pair proving to be a good team.
“I had Nic pushing me, and he’s been my number one supporter other than mum, and with him there, giving me that extra push, it’s been good,” Gough said.
“He’s made me realise that I’m not out there riding trackwork every morning, and I haven’t got an equicizer, and no one is mentoring me, so I’m doing okay considering.”
As far as what the future holds, Gough is still dreaming of one day entering an apprenticeship, with the thrill of race riding too hard to toss.
“I really love it, and I can’t stop riding,” Gough said.
“I try and improve on one thing every time, and that’s all I can do. The fitness could be better, but I’ll work on that.”
Gough and Perrett will trek to Mudgee for the annual Bligh picnic meeting on Saturday.
For all Mallawa results, click here.
For Bligh’s nominations, click here.
