Kathy O’Hara… The Horse Whisperer

By Dan Hutton on April 4, 2014 in People

During the month The Beast caught up with the first female jockey to win a Sydney Premiership, Kathy O’Hara, as she prepares for the Autumn Carnival…

Where are you originally from?
I grew up in Goulburn and then I started my apprenticeship in Dubbo. I spent a little bit of time there before I moved to Wollongong, where I did the second half of my apprenticeship, and then when I was a fully fledged jockey I moved to Sydney.

Where are you living these days?
I live over at Warwick Farm these days because I do most of my work out there. I did live in the Eastern Suburbs, in Kensington, Zetland and Randwick, but I just found the travelling a bit much so I moved out to Warwick Farm.

When did you first move to Sydney?
I moved to Sydney when I finished my apprenticeship, so I was 20 when I first moved here.

Being a country girl moving to the big smoke, how did you find the transition?
I didn’t mind it. I was quite independent for most of it anyway. I was keen to start an apprenticeship early and I moved out of home when I was 16, so I was always quite independent. It was all good fun and a great experience because I went from a little town to something slightly bigger in Dubbo and then to Wollongong, which slightly bigger again, then to the city. I made a bit of a gradual transition and I enjoyed it all along the way.

Do you spend much time around the Eastern Suburbs these days? Are you down at Randwick Racecourse much?
Yeah, I ride here quite often so I spend a fair bit of time here. I still have my favourite spots around here. I have a restaurant up the road that I like going to, the Cubby House at The Spot, and there’s a massage place along Belmore Road that I still go to all the time. I definitely take advantage of coming over here.

What do you love about the Eastern Suburbs?
Just the culture. I like the beach and it’s just sort of casual living over here. You can stroll down to the beach and go to cafes and whatnot. It’s good when you can take advantage of it.

When you’re over here for a race day do you get any time to relax and enjoy the Eastern Suburbs, or do you just race and then get out of here?
I pretty much just get over here and go to the races. Sometimes though, instead of sitting in traffic on a Friday afternoon for an hour and a half going home at peak hour, I go and have dinner up at The Spot or I’ll go and have a massage up there then head home when the traffic isn’t so bad. When I’ve been riding here and it’s really hot I’ve been tempted to just pack up and go to the beach, but most of the time it’s just an afterthought so I haven’t got my swimmers with me.

After a good race day is there a bit of party going on or do you generally just head home knowing that you have to get back to work the next morning?
It depends. Most of the time it’s quite full-on, so if there’s a race meeting the next day I’d head home, but if it’s on a Saturday and it’s a Group 1, or even if it’s just a good race, you tend to go out for dinner, sometimes with owners, and it carries on from there.

Are there any particular owners who look after the jockeys more than others?
I don’t know specifically. I know there are quite a few owners that have good relationship with their jockeys and go out for dinner and they don’t mind going out for a drink and celebrating with you.

Is there anything you don’t like about the Eastern Suburbs?
The traffic’s horrible. It’s the only thing I don’t like about it. That’s why I moved from here to Warwick Farm, because the traffic is a nightmare. I was working out there 80% of the time and the traffic killed me eventually.

Is Randwick Racecourse a good track to race at?
Yeah, it’s a beautiful track. They’ve upgraded all the facilities inside now so it’s one of the only girls’ jockey rooms in Australia that’s got world-class facilities for us. There’s a spa in there and it’s a big room; there are even beds so that you can have a sleep if you’ve got a long time between races. And the track is, well, it’s Randwick isn’t it, so it’s headquarters.

So you’ve got separate girls’ and guys’ jockey rooms?
Yeah, most of the girls’ rooms aren’t as good as the boys’ rooms, except for here at Randwick. We’re getting there though. They’re upgrading some. There are still some that need to be upgraded but there’s definitely work being done, especially at metropolitan provincial tracks within two hours of Sydney. Some of the country tracks don’t even have facilities for the girls. You just share a room with the boys.

How many female Group 1 jockeys are there getting around in Australia at the moment?
There are a few. There’s me, Michelle Payne, Clare Lindop, Nikita Beriman; I think that’s about it.

You were the fourth Australian woman ever to ride a Group 1 winner; has there been a fifth since?
Last year a girl from South Australia called Laura Stojakovic won on a little filly called Miracles Of Life in the $1 million Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield. It was actually her first Group 1 ride.

Do you have a favourite track to ride at?
I like Rosehill Gardens. It’s been the venue for a bunch of firsts for me. I rode my first Saturday winner at Rosehill Gardens, I rode my first Group 1 winner at Rosehill and I just like riding there. I find I have a heap of luck at Rosehill.

How much of horse racing is luck and how much of it is skill?
You need a fair deal of luck but you do need the skill on the back of it. When margins are tight skill counts. You need a fair bit of both.

At what age did you start riding horses?
I’ve ridden as long as I can remember. Mum had ponies when we were growing up so I probably started riding when I was about four or five.

When did you decide you wanted to be a jockey?
It was a strange transition really. I had my own horse and I was competing in the eventing scene, competing in equestrian, dressage and show jumping. A couple of times I did the cross country phase of the eventing, which is when you go over jumps at a bit of a gallop. I used to go miles too fast all the time to the point where people would say I was out of control, but I actually wasn’t. My mum decided to send me to Danny Williams’ place in Goulburn to learn how to do pacework so that I’d know how fast I could go on a horse. She thought that might help me stop going so fast on a cross country course, but I stayed with it and rolled with it from then. I was twelve when I first started riding trackwork and then when I was old enough to start an apprenticeship I did.

Were you ever scared?
No.

Does anyone else in your family ride horses?
My dad doesn’t have anything to do with horses really except for taking us around to do horse things when we were kids. Mum did ride a bit when we were very young but she stopped riding. My sister Tracy rides. She’s a jockey as well, but she’s not Group 1 level. She didn’t really like the city life.

Riding horses is obviously your profession; what do you do for leisure?
I have my own horse, funnily enough. I do jumping and different sorts of things with him. It’s completely different to racing. There’s none of the tactics of race day and there’s no betting; I just go out there and enjoy my own horse. Other than that I might go to the beach or eat out or go shopping.

How much of your week is taken up by horse-related activities?
A lot. There’s three days a week where I ride trackwork from 4am to 8am and then I’ll leave for the races at about 11am, depending on where they’re on. I get home at about 6:30pm and that happens probably five days a week, but sometimes seven days a week.

As a jockey, are you allowed to have a punt at any stage?
No.

Never?
Completely forbidden.

Are you interested at all in punting?
No.

Do you think punting has a negative effect on the sport? Does it annoy you?
It doesn’t annoy me but there’s definitely a down side to gambling, even if it’s just the little things you see on race day, like the disgruntled punters on the fence hurling abuse at jockeys for absolutely nothing that was in their control. That’s just not necessary.

Have you had to deal with many angry punters who think your riding has lost a race?
Plenty of times; every jockey has. If they don’t throw something at you you’re doing well.

Not mentioning any names, but do you think it’s a conflict of interest that a family so heavily involved in training horses is also heavily involved facilitating the gambling upon them?
Look, it’s hard to separate all of that. It’s a fine line really, I suppose.

Does knowing the odds of the horse you’re riding have an affect on the way you race?
It does affect it in some way. If you’re on a $1.80 favourite you’re pretty confident and you’re pretty bullish about your chances, but at the same time you can’t read too much into it because 100 to 1 shots sometimes win. I’ve won on a horse that was 130 to 1.

How many Group 1 races have you won?
Just the one.

Is that your career highlight?
Yeah, I think so. I’ve had a couple. Winning a Group 1 because was definitely something on my bucket list. I think achieving that and also becoming first female to win a Sydney premiership are the two highlights.

Are male jockeys better than female jockeys or do they just get the better rides?
They have always been perceived to be better jockeys because of their strength and all of those sorts of things. It’s quite a dated perception though. Horses are all individuals and they all have individual personalities just like people. Horses clash with jockeys sometimes, whether it be male or female. Things are changing these days too, because it used to be a lot about brute force with racing, but they’ve changed the whip rules, they’ve changed the actual whips themselves and now it’s a lot more to do with finesse and craftsmanship.

How long do you reckon it will be before a woman wins the Melbourne Cup?
I don’t think it’s far off to be honest. I just someone needs to get on a horse that’s capable of realistically finishing top ten and it could happen.

Have you had a ride in the Cup?
No, not yet. I had a ride in the Caulfield Cup. Didn’t finish very well though.

Is it a goal of yours to ride in the Cup?
Definitely. I nearly had a ride in Cup for Gai Waterhouse a couple of years ago. I was in the mix for it. They kept that on the down low a little bit but I was in the mix for one of her horses but didn’t end up getting the ride.

Could you see yourself riding a Melbourne Cup winner in the future?
I’d like to think I can; I would like to. We can all dream.

Is that the ultimate goal for an Australian jockey, to win a Melbourne Cup? Is there any bigger?
Most jockeys would say that, yeah. It’s the race that stops the nation. It is the most expensive race in Australia too, so that helps.

Given that it’s a male dominated profession, was it extra challenging to get where you are as a female, or have you found it reasonably easy going so far?
I wouldn’t say any of it is easy. I don’t know whether any jockey would tell you it’s easy, but particularly being a female it’s really, really hard. Just being persistent more than anything else. It’s disappointing from my point of view to see so many female apprentices come and go and not actually make the progression from apprentice to fully-fledged jockey. They just don’t seem to stick around and they don’t seem to be given the opportunities. I don’t really know what has made it different for me as opposed to all the other girls that have tried and failed.

Do the blokes make it hard for you?
No, not the jockeys. When I was an apprentice and coming through the ranks there were definitely times when they were hard on me, but I don’t think it was gender specific. That’s just part of being an apprentice. They’re hard on apprentices in general because apprentices make lots of mistakes, and in the metropolitan areas when you make a mistake it stands out a lot because the jockey calibre is so high. It was never gender specific though.

You suffered a serious head injury in November and a hand injury in January; have you completely recovered now?
Yeah, just. I just got my clearance this morning. My head injury was fine; it healed up. I was riding a week later. It looked really nasty and I was unconscious but only for a little while. I’ve still got a bit of a lump on the back of my head where the horse trod on me.

Did you get a few stitches in there?
Yeah, six stitches. I didn’t know what it looked like so my friend Gabby took a picture of it for me.

How many times have you been concussed from riding falls?
Probably only two serious ones, but one of those actually wasn’t a race riding one, it was just a horse incident, and that’s over the span of 15 years.

What does it feel like getting trampled by a horse at full pelt?
You just get knocked unconscious most of time, though the one that ran over me and broke my hand, I didn’t initially know it broke my hand. When I fell I landed on my back and that wasn’t too bad. Then it went whack, straight over me and I got up and I thought it was dislocated, but it wasn’t, there was bone poking out.

How many falls have you had during your career?
I’ve been lucky actually, I haven’t had that many. I’ve only had four or five.

Is that fairly standard for a jockey?
Some have worse luck than others, but it’s literally just the luck of the draw; sometimes you can’t help it. There are so many different ways you can fall off a racehorse. The amount of jockeys that actually fall off in relation to the number of races you ride in and the amount of ways you can fall off, it’s not actually that bad.

You’re obviously quite resilient to be back riding straight away after two falls; would anything ever stop you from riding?
No, I don’t think so. Obviously you can’t race ride forever but I think while I’m still enjoying it and happy to do it I’ll definitely keep doing it. I still love what I’m doing.

The fall where you cut your head was described in the media as being quite a horrific incident. They said you could have died…
The jockey that ran me over thought he killed me.

Does that scare you?
It doesn’t scare me, no.

Does it concern you?
No. That might make me a bit selfish, but I just like what I’m doing.

A couple of female jockeys died last year; how does your family deal with it when you’ve had a fall?
My mum and dad, they’ve always been absolutely fine with both my sister and I race riding. My sister’s had so many race falls, poor thing. She’s broken everything, so they’re quite used to it, to a point. They know the risks, they know we take every precaution that we can as riders and we’re not reckless or stupid or dangerous, and they know we love what we do. They’re very accepting.

Do you feel any extra pressure to succeed because you’re a female?
I don’t think there’s any extra pressure to succeed. There’s probably more expectation to fail. So anything else is a bonus.

What advice would you give to a young girl wanting to follow in your footsteps and become a Group 1 jockey?
The only advice I can give is just to work hard and stick with it. Just keep turning up because that’s pretty much what I did. I just put my head down, worked hard, and tried to be very professional in the way I went about things. I tried to build up an association with a good trainer and just kept working hard. That’s the only advice I can give because it’s what I did.

What can the every day punter expect from the Autumn Carnival this year?
It’s going to be a big one! With Randwick’s refurbishment complete and so much money behind The Championships, we’re now attracting international horses which is great for Sydney racing. Horses that have gone from England to Dubai are now coming to Australia. There’ll be some big races and lots at stake! For the general punter though, there’s something for everyone I guess. The Carnival actually starts with Ladies Day at Rosehill (22nd April) which will be a fun one, Rosehill Guineas Day (April 29th) the Tooheys New Golden Slipper (April 5th) will be huge this year as it’s the richest race for 2 year olds and people love the Fashions on the Field so there’ll be plenty of hype around that. The Championships Day 1(April 12th) is the first race day at Randwick and is also Derby Day so will be a very fashionable affair in black and white. Day 2 of The Championships (19th April) has $4million worth of prize money at stake and then Schweppes Stakes Day (April 26th) is the party day to finish it all off. There’s also a brand new concept called Little Sydney which is similar to the Birdcage in Melbourne, so there’s going to be lots of hype around that too.

Would you ever go over to Hong Kong to chase the big bucks?
I don’t know. I probably wouldn’t mind doing a feature thing over there, but maybe not to live. I don’t know whether that’s my type of lifestyle. Over there they ride twice a week and play golf and not much else for the rest of the time. I like to stay really busy, so I don’t know whether it would be for me.

Have you ridden overseas at all before?
I’ve ridden a winner in Dubai, I’ve ridden a winner in Germany and I’ve ridden a winner in New Zealand.

Do you have any role models in the racing industry?
Yeah, I like Hughie Bowman. I think he’s very humble and he’s a great horseman and he’s come from grassroots. I don’t think he has ever forgotten that along the way and I just think the way he conducts himself on the track and in the room is something to aspire to for any jockey.

Do you support any charities?
I have in the past, yes. I’ve done a few things for the McGrath Foundation, the Children’s Hospital and 4 Tracks 4 Kids. Racing NSW also does this thing where they hand out Christmas presents to the Children’s Hospitals at Randwick and Westmead and I get involved in that.

Do you ever have to get into the sauna with a garbage bag on to shed the kilos to make weight?
No, I’m really lucky. I’ve never had to waste. I’ve always been really light to the point where I pick up lots of light rides because I can naturally ride really lightweight.

What do you think you would’ve done for a career if the whole jockey thing hadn’t worked out?
I have no idea. I don’t know where my life would have gone. I got thrown into racing when I was 12 and I didn’t have a plan before that.

When does the career of a female jockey end?
It just depends on the girls. I don’t know how old Linda Meech is but she’s still riding and she doesn’t have any plans to stop riding. I think it’s just an individual thing. If you’ve got a family plan then I guess whenever you plan that you stop.

In an ideal world what does the future hold for Kathy O’Hara?
Hopefully I’ll ride some more Group 1 winners and get a Melbourne Cup ride. That would be ideal.