Clare Lindop: Jockey
Clare Lindop: Jockey
It’s hard to talk about racing in South Australia without Clare Lindop’s name cropping up.
Maybe it’s because she was the first Australian female jockey to ride in the Melbourne Cup. Or the first Australian female jockey to win a Group 1 race (she has now won three). “Being the first woman to achieve some of the things I’ve done has given me a lot of publicity and has actually helped me get a lot of opportunities,” she says.
“But I don’t think of myself as being a female role model at all."
After completing her apprenticeship in 2001, Clare continued to travel throughout South Australia and country Victoria to gain race rides and experience. She was SA Leading Country rider in season 2001-2002, and the city trainers started to take note.
Clare has now recorded some 600 winners and counting. Based at Morphettville, she freelances for various trainers but has become synonymous with Leon Macdonald, for whom she rode Rebel Raider to success in both the South Australian and Victoria Derbies as well as glamour filly Augusta Proud, winner of this year’s Magic Millions Classic on the Gold Coast.
Some might be tempted to move interstate to further their career. But not Clare.
“Adelaide is a really great launching pad for a jockey. It’s a relatively small pond, so you get a lot of opportunities,” she says.
