Jamie Kah and her ponies
By James Tzaferis, Racing.com
Karen Kah knows what you need to make it at the top.
Before her daughter Jamie Kah was dominating Australian horse racing, Kah was the queen of Australian short track speed skating and competed at two Winter Olympic Games and a handful of World Championships.
Most of the technical skills involved in ice skating and horse racing are totally unique but several of the keys to success are not, namely passion and work ethic.
They’re traits most parents try to instill in their kids from a young age and they were definitely apparent in a young Jamie Kah.
It’s why, although amazed at how quickly she’s been able to take a stranglehold in Melbourne’s cutthroat riding ranks, Kah is not entirely surprised at her daughter’s incredible achievements.
On Saturday at Caulfield, the 25-year-old’s record-breaking season went to new heights when she notched her 100th metropolitan winner, eclipsing the previous record held by Brett Prebble.
Jamie Kah rides Deep Speed to her record breaking 100th Melbourne win this season
© Racing photos
“She never saw us (Kah’s husband John was also an Olympic speed skater) doing our sport because I’d retired way before I had her but I’d like to think that some of the dedication and the work ethic she got from us,” Kah said.
“She’s always applied herself really well and worked very hard so whatever she chose to do, she was going to be successful.
“But she never got any gifts from us as far as riding goes.
“We made sure she had good, honest ponies to start with and, we did a bit of western, so she was surrounded by plenty of old cowboys and she just soaked it all in and learned a lot.
“We did a few cattle clinics and rode with some great Queensland cattleman and she learned heaps from them too.
“And the skills that she picked up from mounted games, I think they were so important as well.
“A lot of the time these kids were racing on ponies they’d never sat on before and they’re going flat out between cones and poles, it wasn’t just your basic pony club stuff.
“We always knew that she was talented as a horsewoman, she just had this gift.”
Jamie Kah competes at the mounted games
It was at these mounted games events – essentially obstacle races on horseback – that a teenage Kah was first introduced to the racing industry by a friend that was working for trainer John Macmillan.
Kah too would work for the former jumps jockey, initially just feeding and rugging horses but later, after Macmillan got to experience firsthand her gift with horses, in the saddle at trackwork.
It was a transition met with trepidation by her parents but one that needed their full support.
For Kah to start her apprenticeship and really immerse herself in racing, she needed to leave high school and move to Macmillan’s Strathalbyn stables.
“We mostly used quarter horses and ponies so we had no idea about racehorses and I remember saying to John Macmillan that that she could come in and do the feeds and work in the stable, as long as he didn’t put her on one of those creatures,” she said.
“It was a bit of a running joke but I could see the twinkle in the eye, I could see what was going to happen.
“The rest is history.
“She absolutely loved it, she loved the speed and the thrill of it all.
“John was the first person in racing to see her talent and we just went along with what he said and he offered her an apprenticeship.
“She was only 15 at the time so we had a chat about it because it meant that she had to leave school in Year 10 and at the same time, John shifted down to Strathalbyn which was miles away from where we lived.
“She went down with them and I went backwards and forwards and lived with her a bit because she was too young to be on her own.
“A lot of people questioned why we were letting her leave school and work in racing but we just had to go with our gut feeling because Jamie was just so excited about the whole thing and wanted a career in horses.”
Jamie Kah’s first race ride at Streaky Bay in 2012.
After kicking off her riding career at Streaky Bay in March 2012 and riding her first winner at Clare in April 2012, Kah raced through her apprenticeship in slick time and won the Adelaide Jockeys Premiership in her first full season of riding.
She tried her hand in Melbourne for a short stint before returning to South Australia, where she won back-to-back Adelaide Jockey Premierships.
Her decision to give Melbourne another go was motivated by a desire to win a Group 1 before she retired.
Kah’s victory on Vega One on in the Kingsford Smith Cup in May was her sixth Group 1 win in the space of two-and-a-half years – more than any other female rider has ridden in their career.
Karen Kah knew pretty quickly her daughter wasn’t coming back to Adelaide in a hurry.
“I remember the day that she told me she was thinking about going back to Melbourne and giving it a go for six months,” she said.
“She started doing quite well and when we went to visit her, we knew she wasn’t coming back.
“She was getting the better horses, riding for the better trainers and competing against the better jockeys and learning and improving all the time.”
This article first appeared on Racing.com and is reprinted here with their kind permission. To find out more about Racing Victoria’s Off the Track program, visit rv.racing.com/the-horse/off-the-track.
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