KAH ON CLOUD NINE AT HAPPY VALLEY

By Graham Potter | Thursday, December 8, 2022

Just walking into the magnificent setting of a floodlit Happy Valley racetrack for the first time would have been a special treat for Jamie Kah on her birthday. The scene does take your breath away.

Riding ... being part of the racing action ... would have taken that pleasure to new heights.

Winning a race would have been a dream come true.

Well, Kah can wake up this morning, look back and realise that it wasn’t all a dream ... that all of the above actually happened and you can only imagine that her smile of satisfaction will broaden again as she recalls what she will always remember as a very special birthday treat.

But, of course, being racing, you cannot have it all.

Had Kah’s effort in the final leg of the International Jockeys’ Championship (IJC) series aboard Red Lion not failed by half a stride to get past Adios in a last-gasp thrust at the line, after flying from well back, Kah would have had her IJC win and along with it, had Red Lion saluted, Kah would have been crowned the IKC winner and claimed a place in history as the first female rider take out the prestigious IJC title

Small margins ... that is the difference being just half a stride short can make.

Being the competitive professional she is, there would most likely have been a moment when there was a twinge of disappointment for Kah about the fact that she had come so close to the big prize, but it could only have been a moment because the awesome experience she had shared with her riding colleagues on the night, highlighted by her win in the third race, a non-IJC race, aboard Hearty Wish would have quickly dispersed any disappointment.

Hearty Wish coming good on Kah’s birthday.

She could hardly have asked for anything more.

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