THE CHEERING GETS LOUDER AS JAMIE KAH CLOSES IN ON CEMENTING HER PLACE IN THE HISTORY BOOKS

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, June 30, 2021

It is now within touching distance … just a tantalising four wins away.

That is the number of winners Jamie Kah has still to ride to become the first jockey to reach the magical one hundred metropolitan winner’s milestone in a season in Victoria.

With ten metropolitan meetings left to go until season’s end, Kah … barring injury or suspension … will have little trouble in reaching that landmark figure and it will be an achievement which will tie up very nicely with the Metropolitan Premiership, which Kah already has signed and sealed in her pocket.

And that might not be the end of her success story.

Kah has also suddenly had the door opened to a chance at winning the overall Victorian Jockey’s Premiership title … for the most winners ridden throughout the state … after that Premiership’s leader John Allen received a fourteen-meeting suspension which starts at midnight on July 2 and only allows Allen to return to action on July 16.

Allen currently sits nine winners (139 to 130) ahead of Kah, so she is almost sure to close the gap on Allen during his time out, meaning this title race could translate into a serious battle over the final two weeks of the season as it will give Kah another goal to aim at.

Every winner for Kah now thus has a double value. It takes her towards that one hundred metropolitan winner mark, and it further engages her in the battle with Allen for state honours.

Emphasising the brilliance of Kah’s season is the fact that, apart from the second placed Damian Lane (who sits on 62 wins), Kah has more than double the amount of metropolitan winners for the season than any other rider … and she has a win strike rate of 20.1 percent.

The current all-time record for the most Metropolitan wins in a season in Victoria belongs to Brett Prebble, who was officially credited with 99.5 winners in the 1999/2000 season. Prebble has his own take on that though as he explained when speaking to Racing.com.

"A lot of people say it was 99-and-a-half, but in my book, I got paid as a winner, it's 100 wins," Prebble said.

That technical argument aside, Prebble was full of praise for Kah. “It wasn't an easy feat (the record) for me back then, so I can still appreciate how tough it is now and I think it's fantastic that Jamie is definitely going to break it,” he told Racing.com.

Prebble also added an interesting insight into what privileged challenge might await Kah in the future … if she was keen on a huge change of scenery.

"It definitely puts you up there when the Hong Kong Jockey Club are chasing those sort of jockeys, those sort of achievements, that's what they're looking for, the people who are winning premierships or breaking records, they want them there as their club jockeys," said Prebble, who spent many successful seasons in Hong Kong.

Champion jockey Craig Williams, who has no less than nine Victorian Metropolitan Premierships to his name, was also in awe of Kah’s season.

Speaking on After The Last TV program, Williams was asked what his assessment was of what Kah had already achieved this season.

“Phenomenal, is an easy word to sum it up,” said Williams.

“She is getting close to the record that was set by Brett Prebble. I remember getting close to it one year and I thought, I need a holiday. I’m going on holiday. I’ll try and ride a hundred winners next year… and I never ever got close to it ever again.

“Jamie’s got it within her sights and credit has to go to her, her team and all of the people around her.”

And let’s not forget Jamie Kah’s huge set of supporters who will be cheering her all the way down the home straight to the finish line. She is not there yet, but how good would it be to be able to witness the moment when Kah creates her own bit of history!

*Jamie Kah has seven rides at the Ladbrokes Park (Lakeside) meeting today.

Race 1: Crestani for trainer Pat Carey

Race 2: El Salto for Brent Stanley

Race 4: Bellx for Ben and JD Hayes

Race 5: Wilmot Pass for Anthony and Sam Freedman

Race 6: Dogmatic for Richard Laming

Race 8: Ellis Park for Mark Kavanagh

Race 9: Excelleration for Richard Cully

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