Cass on a high and low
BOOM Cairns apprentice Emily Cass tasted the highs and lows of being a jockey over the past few days.
The prolific 25-year-old booted home two winners at Cluden Park on Friday and came within a whisker of riding the entire card at Cannon Park on Saturday.
But, as soon as she rode her third winner at Cairns on Saturday, the talented hoop began a 17-day suspension for a careless riding charge from earlier this month.
That can the life of a top jockey, in the winner’s circle one minute and on a forced holiday the next.
The smiling apprentice has claimed eight winners over the past 10 days between Cairns, Townsville and Mareeba.
Cass’s licence to ride in races was suspended for 17 days, which started at midnight on Saturday and will run until April 11, after stewards finalised their inquiry from March 16 on Friday.
Before the suspension kicked in, the hoop from Noosa was on fire. She landed three winners on Saturday — Great Pretender for Trevor Rowe, Pandaman from the Stephen Massingham stable and the inform Jumbo Rumbo for Scott Cooper.
In the race Cass did not win on Saturday, she was beaten by 0.1 lengths on the line by Mustang Jack, ridden by Manabu Kai in the Interline Maiden Plate.
“Emily is riding great,” Cooper said. “She is keen and eager.
“From what I can tell, she wants to learn and is improving every month, getting better and better.
“I think it is her keen nature to be a jockey, she watches and studies races.
“She is always practising on the mechanical horse at the track.”
Jumbo Rumbo and Cass have struck up a strong partnership, scoring five wins, a second and a third from their nine trips to the races together.
The Kewarra Beach trainer is unsure what he will do going forward with Jumbo Rumbo, who has claimed three wins this year.
“He is not a bad horse,” Cooper said.
“I am not sure yet what the plan is yet. He may have a couple of weeks off because he has been up for a while.
“Or he may go around on Thursday in Townsville, I may late nominate him in the Benchmark 70 1200m race.”
Cass rode a race-to-race double with Craiglea Cetina ($5.50) in the Two-Year-Old Maiden Handicap (1200m) before backing up in the next with Maurizio at Cluden Park on Friday.