Racing: Rising star is still girl from the bush

You get the impression Scarlet O'Hara might have quite liked Kathy O'Hara.

The spunky heroine of the oldtime epic movie Gone With The Wind would have appreciated someone who fought the odds and the gender card to become Sydney's first champion female apprentice jockey.

With her long blond hair streaming from the back of her skullcap, Kathy O'Hara, the girl from the bush, has been making it big time in the city in the past six months.

We've seen her riding winner after winner on television, but little is known this side of the Tasman about the rapidly rising Australian racing star.

What increased that thirst for knowledge is her selection this week to represent Australia, alongside New Zealand's Buddy Lammas, in the World Apprentice Series in Dubai in November.

The first thing you need to know is that the bush is in Kathy O'Hara's heart, but it was never going to be big enough to sustain her riding talent.

"I come from a family that had little or no interest in horse racing," said the 19-year-old as she prepared for a big day's riding at Randwick today.

"I rode at the shows with a girlfriend who was riding work for Danny Williams, who had a private training track.

"One day when I was 12 I went out to the track to watch her riding trackwork and from that moment I was hooked. I rode them in training every morning before school."

Based at Goulburn and Dubbo and transferred to bush trainer Peter Nester, O'Hara quickly kicked home 100 winners, outriding her country weight allowance.

"That was not much use, so in April this year I transferred my apprenticeship to Gwenda Markwell at Kembla Grange and it's all gone well since then."

So well that O'Hara, against the odds, has ridden 30 metropolitan winners in Sydney and a further 50 at the provincials.

Talent is always a requirement, but in Sydney racing, success breeds success.

In a town that thrives on fashion, one win builds to another just the same as one loss can so often lead to more of the same.

For O'Hara the spiral has all been skyward.

"My first city winner was King Rex, then I rode a Listed Stakes winner for Paul Perry at Rosehill. I got a bit of publicity with that and people started paying attention."

One of them was high-profile trainer Guy Walter.

"Every Tuesday I travel from Kembla to Warwick Farm to ride work for Mr Walter and he's now putting me on some of his horses on raceday."

So is Gai Waterhouse. One of O'Hara's four rides today is Mystery Creek for the queen of the other side of Sydney racing, the training arena.

Buddy Lammas' boss, Matamata trainer Jim Gibbs, is also impressed with O'Hara.

"She's a very good rider she can use the whip effectively in either hand."

Even as an apprentice O'Hara has a manager. Damien Hay has secured O'Hara her first two group one rides, in the Epsom and Metropolitan Handicaps, at Randwick next month.

Jim Gibbs is also proud of his own apprentice, Buddy Lammas, who has made phenomenal improvement in a short six months.

"I was told by the apprenticeship board that Buddy got the nod for the trip because he did not miss one day at apprentice school and has not had one raceday suspension.

"Buddy's an extremely capable all-round guy and he's going to do very well.

"I'm proud of him for landing this trip."

O'Hara and Lammas will meet for the first time in Dubai.

The series is over three race nights in a week, with two apprentice races on each card.

Kathy O'Hara summed up her four Randwick rides for the Herald:

* Bedtime Secrets, a first-start, 2-year-old in Race 1 and trained by her boss.

"When we first brought this little bloke into work we thought he'd only be there for a month then he would go back out for a spell. But he's kept improving and here he is at the races. He's trialled well and he's a really nice little horse. They're all first-start babies, so the race is a bit of a guess, but he's not the worst."

* Mystery Creek for Gai Waterhouse in Race 6.

"He's a consistent horse and he's got a good barrier. I expect something from him.

* For Valour in Race7, the A$100,000 Bill Ritchie Handicap.

"I won a race on this horse at Randwick three starts back. He's up in class for this, but he runs on okay.

* Imana for Guy Walter in Race 9, the A$100,000 Seppelt Wines Nivison. "I've ridden her both starts this preparation. I felt she was suffering from the second-up syndrome last start when she got a long way off them early. I expect something better this time."

The best of them? Imana.