TWO of Swan Hill’s hottest names in the racing world are jockeys Harry Coffey and Madison Lloyd.
But unfortunately, only one of them will be strutting their stuff at the Swan Hill Cup Carnival this year, as Lloyd recovers from a broken leg. Last month, she famously won her first feature race while unknowingly carrying the serious injury.
Harry Coffey’s challenge, meanwhile, will be coping with all the trainers who will be trying to sign him up on his home course for some of the biggest prize money on the regional racing circuit.
With the bet365 Swan Hill Cup worth $175,000 and the $150,000 Pooles Accountants Golden Topaz pulling some of the superstars in the training industry, they will all want a slice of the man who has become something of a country Cups specialist.
But Coffey isn’t getting too carried away – just yet.
“It’s a little early to say anything about cup rides,” Coffey explained.
“The cup field wouldn’t be confirmed until late Thursday and once the final fields are out, I will be in a better position to talk about which horses I am riding and in what races,” he says.
“It’s the same for trainers – the locals and the city stables – as many of them have the same horses nominated in more than one race.
“But what I can say is it’s pretty clear all fields will be strong and that means lots of people will probably miss out on the races they wanted and end up having to choose an alternative run.”
Lloyd, on the other hand, won’t be at all worried about choosing her rides – she will most likely be incredibly frustrated because her broken leg won’t have healed in time for her to ride on her hometown track for its biggest three days of the year.
Last month, the 21-year-old apprentice jockey rode into racing history at Warrnambool – the first female apprentice to win the $200,000 Wangoom Handicap.
And she is only the second woman to win in the race’s 142-year history. The other was Linda Meech, who took it out in 2014 on Kneeling and was second, half a length behind Lloyd, in May.
The 1200m sprint – first run in 1880 – is one of the most prestigious, hard fought and sought-after wins on the regional Victorian racing calendar.
And Lloyd, riding Frankie Pinot, won it on a level playing field – there is no weight claim for apprentices in one of the highlights of the famous three-day Warrnambool meeting, so she had no advantage over older, more experienced jockeys.
Even better, Lloyd was in the race because Frankie Pinot owners Anne and John McDonnell wanted her there, on their horse in the biggest race of its – and Lloyd’s – career because of her connection with the five-year-old gelding.
The day after the big win, Lloyd was having her “sore” left leg x-rayed to confirm the worst – her fibula had been snapped in two.
“It was sore, and I had been advised to go and get it thoroughly checked but being me I sort of put that off for the time being,” Lloyd laughed.
“I wasn’t doing much so I just took a few painkillers and headed for Warrnambool.”
Where the rest is, as they say, history with the feisty apprentice with the megawatt smile toughing it out for a barnstorming victory in one of the most sought-after races in regional Victoria.
Now she’s in a moonboot and on the sidelines for six weeks so she will be watching the cup carnival on TV and thinking ‘what if?’
