Trudy makes it 1000 wins
Trudy Thornton has long been known as one of racing’s toughest jockeys and now she’s a member of the 1000 wins club.
Having reached 999 at Matamata on October 19, she broke through the elusive barrier on Saturday at Tauranga with a typically hard-fought win on the longshot Gangsters Lass.
The Cambridge 53-year- old, who began riding as an amateur in 1982 and mixed flat and jumps riding for a number of years, spent more than a decade based in Matamata when she also held a trainer’s licence with some success for a couple of seasons.
Her career has been punctuated by the birth of three children – daughters Samantha and Jessica Collett and son Ben Thornton – and a list of injuries that might have deterred someone less determined.
In 2008 she came close to dying when a horse she was riding at Ellerslie collapsed with a heart attack and would have smothered her but for the quick actions of nearby starting gate crew members.
At the same track two years ago she suffered serious hips and pelvic injuries in a fall that ultimately led to a hip replacement.
Time and again, however, she has bounced back and even now after more than three decades and 15,000-plus race rides, she has no intentions of hanging up her saddle.
‘‘It’s what I enjoy, it always has been, that’s what keeps me going – and the money!’’ Trudy said after scoring her landmark win on the John Revell-trained Gangsters Lass.
‘‘It’s what I enjoy, it always has been, that’s what keeps me going – and the money!’’