Racquel rides to new peak
STAR Tasmanian jockey Raquel Clark celebrated her best ever season in her adopted state by taking six categories at the annual South Australian racing Industry Awards event held in Adelaide last Saturday night.
Clark relocated to SA almost two years ago and immediately made an impact.
Last season she set about winning the apprentices premiership but by the end of July she had exceeded all of her expectations.
Clark won the title of South Australian Jockey of the Year as well as repeating her success from last year by winning the Leon Macdonald Award for South Australian Apprentice of the Year.
Added to her trophy cabinet were the TAB South Australian Metropolitan Apprentice Jockey of the Year title, the South Australian Metropolitan Jockey of the Year, SA Provincial and Country Jockey of the Year award and the Caitlin Forrest SA Provincial and Country Apprentice Jockey of the Year award.
It was a huge night for the 23-year-old, who took only 18 months to outride her apprentice claim in Tasmania before making the move interstate.
Clark returned to Tasmania to ride during the Tasmanian summer carnival last season but the talented rider made it clear she now calls SA home.
“I’ve had a massive year, definitely the best year of my career to date,” she said.
“Having the support of the industry behind me has played a big part in that, so it’s rewarding to get this recognition from the industry and to have my name up there alongside racing legends.
“I see these awards as an incentive to work harder and I want to push towards bigger and better things.” TASMANIA’S annual industry awards and Hall of Fame gala event will be held in Launceston at the Grand Chancellor Hotel on Friday week.
Scott Brunton will accept his award as leading trainer and Craig Newitt has confirmed he will be at the function to receive his second jockey’s title.
It is an event that celebrates the achievements of the industry stars and this year Mystic Journey is certain to be named Tasmanian horse of the year given her feats at home and interstate while her three-quarter sister Mystical Pursuit is favourite to take home the top 2YO award.
The Hall of Fame inductions are always a feature of the Tasmanian awards presentation night and this year’s should be no exception with a popular Northern-based trainer to take his place on the honour roll along with a jockey who was considered an equal of the best to ever ride in the state.
One of the horses to be inducted had an amazing record that included victory in a Melbourne Cup in the late 1980s and another that was one of the best-performed sprinters to grace the Tasmanian turf.
The function is open to the public with tickets available from Tasracing.