Siemsen tackles nerves

Gollan galloper Isotope in the Group 2 Arrowfield Sprint at Randwick on Saturday, was in Toowoomba west of Brisbane when Isotope made her Sydney debut when winning the Listed Darby Munro Stakes on March 27.

Siemsen was in Toowoomba for the funeral of his grandmother and also the wedding of his business partner Harry McAlpine, watching the TV anxiously in the lead-up to the Darby Munro.

“I was more nervous watching that race in the loungeroom than I was making my first-grade rugby league debut,” Siemsen said.

“And I was pretty nervous that day.

“It was in 1998 at the Sydney Football Stadium and Souths had three injuries in the first 27 minutes and I was the last player sitting on the bench.

“It was pretty incredible to run on and face blokes from the Brisbane Broncos like Gorden Tallis, Peter Ryan and Andrew Gee.

“Peter Ryan was the most terrifying because he was the most unassuming.”

Siemsen, now running a successful global technology business, has enjoyed an extraordinary 40 per cent winning strike rate since the black-andwhite Black Soil Bloodstock colours made their debut.

Isotope, the three-year-old filly who has won five from nine, is the flagbearer for Black Soil but Siemsen is hoping others like Garibaldi and Palladas can make their mark on the Queensland winter carnival.

He said the tilt at the Arrowfield was likely to be Isotope’s last run of her campaign.

The camp is set to spell the filly over winter and bring her back for some big spring assignments.

Isotope’s regular jockey Ryan Maloney has been wasting and on an exercise regimen to ride the filly at 54.5kg on Saturday.

“There is a lot of excitement for me there with a filly like Isotope,” he said.