It is a long way from County Meath in Ireland to Morphettville Racecourse in Adelaide but for apprentice jockey Emily Finnegan the journey has been worth it. The 21-year-old is making a name for herself, riding a series of winners in South Australian metropolitan and country race meets.
Less than two years ago, she arrived in Adelaide to try her luck after her riding career in Ireland stalled.
“In Ireland, racing is very male-dominated,” she said.
“There are not a lot of females riding at all. I can only think of three and they are not really getting many rides.
“It is more of a hobby for them than a career and I wanted a career.”
Well Emily who still claims 1.5 kg as an apprentice has been making great progress in Oz over the last 12 months. Her strike rate over last 514 rides is 16.3% (as good as Hughie Bowman) but has returned a whooping +27.1 % A2E based on TopTote3 which for all runners shows a loss of -9%.
Emily has 2 rides today 4/3/2017 at Morphettville
- 12:53 pm Morphettville R1
Morphettville R01 Schweppes Hcp 1050m Open 3yo 12:53 PM SOFT (6->5)
04 Nodoubtaboutit 3yo f (Emily_Finnegan) Odds 5.0 - 5:53 pm Morphettville R9
Morphettville R09 Mac: Stop Drug Driving (Bm70) 1800m BM70 5:53 PM SOFT (17->13)
11 Celestial Story 4yo g (Emily_Finnegan) Odds 13.0
A snapshot of Emily’s stats is shown below :
