Jockey rides winner fortnight after giving birth

Lynsey Satherley, here with baby Sophie and husband Derek, won on a $67.80 outsider at Rotorua. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Jockey Lynsey Satherley's upset win was extra special - it came just two weeks after she gave birth.

"I felt very fit and had no issues with riding raceday," said Satherley.

"My little girl was safe and sound just down the road and the first horse I rode was for [my husband] Derek."

The Te Awamutu jockey won on a $67.80 outsider at Rotorua on Wednesday, one race after riding Sandell in her comeback for husband and trainer Derek Satherley.

Riding a 550kg horse competitively at breakneck speed two weeks after giving birth seems left-field for most, but jockeys are among the world's fittest athletes.

And among the least surprised was fellow jockey Trudy Thornton.

Six years ago, she rode trackwork right up until the birth of her son Ben and was back riding three weeks later. "Not only have I done that, I actually got Lynsey that ride and talked her into taking it," said the Cambridge-based Thornton.

"The owners had called me to ride it."

But Thornton says her birth was different. "Lynsey beat me because I had a caesarean."

The rules have recently changed. Women riders are now not permitted to ride trackwork or in races on a public track after a point three months into their pregnancy.