PEOPLE
Sue’s a jockey
‘Bigg’ on
SPIRIT
22
www.racingnsw.com.au
SUE BIGG HAS DETERMINATION AND CHARACTER WHICH WILL SEE HER
GO A LONG WAY AS SHE EMBARKS ON A RACE RIDING CAREER IN HER
LATE THIRTIES WORDS: GRAEME WHITE
L
ife as a female apprentice jockey – especially at the
age of 37 – was never on the radar for Sue Bigg.
But that is exactly the age Sue started out; a
remarkable journey considering she shares the female
jockey room and competes with some riders young
enough to be her children.
What she lacks in racetrack guile, Bigg makes up for in
life experiences.
She has covered most facets in racing from being an
amateur jockey, to training with professional riders her
latest achievement.
“I don’t think you are ever too old,” Bigg said of her age.
“Most people say they didn’t know I was 37 – they think
I’m about 20 or something which is good.
“I’m not sure if I’m the oldest apprentice in the State. I
get on well with all the riders; we are all good friends.”
Bigg isn’t planning to make her riding career a short
stint either as instead she intends to compete for as long
as possible and it certainly won’t be her weight that
holds her back.
Naturally small, Bigg weighs only 48 kilograms making
her one of the lightest apprentice jockeys in Australia.
Her parents (“Dad is about 60 kilos and Mum around 47
kilos”) have backed her all the way.
“They are short and light just like me,” she said. “I rode
at the amateurs for a while, but was too light.
“I went into training and had a few winners, but then
was asked to try at the professionals by Leslie Jeffriess
who was looking for another apprentice.”
Based at Tamworth, Bigg hadn’t ridden a racehorse
until she was 27.
It was only nine months ago she gained her licence
and not long before she guided home her first career
winner.
“I trained for about eight years and had some nice
horses like Six Cougars, Awe Inspired and Sully Shadow,”
she said. “I loved the training, but I love riding too.
“I’m naturally fit and always wanted to have a go at race
riding.”
From the time she was a child, Bigg has always been
involved with horses.
Born in Sydney, but a resident of Tamworth since she
was four years of age, Bigg competed in pony club and
other disciplines before finally finding her way onto a
racehorse.
Jeffriess said it seemed natural for Bigg to become a
jockey.
“I tried to persuade her to take it up when she was
younger,” Leslie Jeffriess said.
LEFT: Sue Bigg returns to scale aboard Sorcha Rose at
Quirindi. TOP: Sue guides Sorcha Rose to victory
“Here she is at age 37 as an apprentice with me. Sue
rides well, but has had a bit of a setback and will pick it
up again.”
Jeffriess is referring to a broken wrist Bigg suffered in a
trackwork fall.
Despite having to spend time on the sidelines with her
riding career just taking off, Bigg isn’t fazed.
“It’s all good and part of the job,” she said.
Bigg won her first race aboard Sorcha Rose at Quirindi
on Boxing Day last year and followed up with another on
Stretch for Jeffriess in the next race.
“It was a memorable day to get my first winner and
then a double,” Bigg said. “I had been riding Sorcha Rose
in trackwork for John Hyne for a while.
“She got beaten a nose at her previous start when I
rode her and won at Quirindi by four lengths.”
The excitement in Bigg’s voice hasn’t wavered when
she details that first win from more than three months
ago.
Sue has ridden four winners from about 30 rides and
plans to make the most of the time she has left in the
saddle. Considering her apprenticeship doesn’t end until
2015, Bigg will be 40.
Her partner, local farrier Derren Mullins, has been
trackside for some of the wins.
Former top jockey Maurice Logue, Racing NSW’s GMEducation & Employment, said the number of females
wanting to become jockeys outnumbered the males.
“You would hardly see a female apprentice before, but
now there are more in most regions,” he said.
Retired champion jockey Malcolm Johnston, who
oversees the apprentice jockeys in the Tamworth region,
paid credit to Bigg’s perseverance.
“It can be hard as an apprentice getting rides, but for
Sue to start out at an older age and make a go of it takes
some doing,” he said.
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