Reed dancing on air following debut win

Amateur jockey Alexandra Reed was dancing on air at Wanganui on Sunday after she made the perfect start to her riding career when winning aboard the Clinton Isdale-trainedAir Dancer (NZ)(Staphanos) in the Race Images Amateur Riders 2060.

“It was a great feeling,” Reed said.

Reed has ridden Air Dancer in trackwork over the last couple of years and she was confident of a bold showing, although she admitted to being naturally nervous prior to her amateur riding debut.

“I have ridden the horse for the last few years, so I knew what he was like and I have done a lot of barrier work with him,” Reed said. “I was quite certain that the horse would go okay but being my first raceday ride I didn’t want to mess it up.”

And she didn’t mess it up, taking the shortest way home to score by 1-1/4 lengths over Billy Boy (So You Think), with a further length back to Bernardo (NZ) (Belardo) in third, with respective jockeys Monique Dey and Hannah Wilson also having their first raceday rides.

“It was cool seeing a few other new jockeys out there doing so well,” Reed said. “Everyone is really supportive of each other in the jockeys’ room.”

Reed was also pleased to bring up the win in front of her mother, Trish Reed, fittingly on Mother’s Day.

“It was really awesome having Mum there, she has always been a great supporter right from when we were on ponies,” Reed said. “She has always come to the shows with me and been slave labour virtually, but she loves every moment of it and she has always been with the horses. She rode trackwork and has ridden in a few trials when she was younger.

“It was surreal for her to see me riding on raceday and get the win.”

Reed said she owes her love of horses to her Mum, who got her into riding from a young age.

“I have been riding horses since I could walk,” she said. “I have ridden a lot of show horses and a few ponies, and Mum has always helped us out.”

Following high school, Reed undertook an engineering apprenticeship and spent several years working as a fitter machinist before the pull of riding became too strong.

“I am a qualified engineer, so I was working as an engineer for five years after school as a fitter machinist,” she said. “I then decided that I wanted to ride trackwork and I left the engineering job and started riding full-time.

“I freelance at Cambridge and a lot of trainers have helped me out over the years and given me rides at the jumpouts and trials.

“Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray were a big help when I first started riding. Colm really got me going and taught me how to ride trackwork, it is quite different to riding a normal horse.

“I met Clint (Isdale) and he gave me huge opportunities and always believed in my riding and put me on horses.”

Riding on raceday has always been the goal for Reed since she started riding trackwork, and while weight ruled out undertaking an apprenticeship, riding as an amateur became the natural path.

“When I first started riding trackwork I thought ‘that (amateur racing) looks quite cool, I could probably have a go riding as an amateur’,” Reed said. “I didn’t want to get my weight down to be an apprentice, I like my food too much, that’s an extra 10 kilos I don’t want to lose.

“The opportunity to ride as an amateur looked quite cool. It has taken a few years to do all of the paperwork, there are a few hoops to jump through to ride on raceday, but all the stipes have been really helpful.”

With a win now under her belt, Reed would like to add to her tally over winter, while becoming a trainer in the next few years is also top of mind.

“It would be really cool to get a few more amateur rides,” she said. “Clint is quite keen to put me on a few more horses and there are a couple in the stable that are nice winter stayers.

“Ultimately, I would like to get my trainer’s license, that is my main goal in a year or so.”

While she is looking forward to riding over winter, Reed is also excited to watch her jumper, Zee Heights, and racehorse, See My Machine, compete on the track.

“I have a jumper called Zee Heights who had a few starts over the hurdles last winter and he will hopefully go hurdling again when we get a bit more rain,” Reed said. “Ultimately, he will get over the chase fences.

“Mum and I have also got a slow flat horse called See My Machine.”

While racing is Reed’s main passion these days, she still enjoys competing in the show ring.

“I have got a couple of show horses,” she said. “I do a few A&P Shows, mainly in the summer months, and the jumper went out over summer and did some showing as well for a change of scenery.”