In a month that has been beset by the highs and lows of racing, Jamie Kah says there will be one horse that carries special significance for her this weekend.
Kah will ride Another Wil for the McKenna family at Flemington on Saturday just seven days after they lost family patriarch and popular Warrnambool businessman Colin to cancer.
Jamie Kah will ride Another Wil for the late Colin McKenna at Flemington on Saturday. Credit: Getty Images
The star jockey became close to McKenna through their association with the horse and the pair stood together in the Caulfield mounting yard just last month after Another Wil won the Testa Rossa Stakes in the family’s familiar silks – green-and-blue hoops. Kah rode Another Wil for six of his seven career wins.
“I’ve been speaking to (McKenna’s wife) Janice over the last few days about Col, and it’s just absolutely devastating how rapidly he became unwell,” Kah said.
“So, I will be trying my absolute best to win on Another Wil for him. He was one of the best people, not just owners, that I’ve ever met. I’ll be doing my best to make him happy out there.”
McKenna, 74, the founder of meat exporting empire the Midfield Group, passed away on Sunday morning. A prominent owner, he was a huge supporter of the Ciaron Maher stable, winning the 2016 Caulfield Cup together with Jameka in the green-and-blue silks.
The 14-time group 1-winning Kah started the spring carnival off on a bad foot, copping a three-week suspension on a charge of failing to give her horse every chance to win a race.
She returned in time to head to Sydney for Randwick’s mega sprint race The Everest only for her mount Traffic Warden to be scratched at the barrier. She was dealt another disappointing blow on Saturday when her Melbourne Cup ride Point King was withdrawn from the race.
But her on-track fortunes took a turn for the better on Saturday afternoon when she finished third in the Cox Plate on three-year-old colt Broadsiding.
Her manager’s phone was then flooded with calls on Sunday morning from trainers looking to snap her up for the Melbourne Cup. She will now ride Maher import Okita Sushi (51kg) in the 3200m race.
Jamie Kah’s original Melbourne Cup ride Point King has been pulled out of the race.Credit: Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images
“Because the weights are so low this year, there was a lot of people calling my manager straight away because they found out that I didn’t have a ride,” Kah said on Monday.
“It’s quite difficult for trainers and owners to be finding jockeys that can ride that weight (51kg), so we had a fair few calls in the morning. My poor manager would have been on the phone for about three hours.”
