She only had her first ride in December, but it has already proved eventful for Darwin apprentice Emma Lines.
The 16-year-old makes her second comeback from injury on Friday with four rides on the five-event program at Fannie Bay.
Lines, who has had 31 rides in Darwin and six rides in Alice Springs, boasts five career wins in the Top End, but she is unlikely to forget the St Patrick’s Day Cup meeting on March 18 any time soon.
Partnering five-year-old gelding Nokondi for trainer Phil Cole, who is also her master, over 1300m during a brutal thunderstorm where visibility proved a hindrance for jockeys, stewards, racecaller Craig Sant, Fannie Bay patrons and TV viewers because of torrential rain, the teenager came to grief.
Well adrift in last place down the side with 500m to go in the 10-horse field, Nokondi ($3.60 with horse betting sites) shifted outwards before contacting the outside rail and dislodging Lines.
“A few metres after we jumped out of the gates the horse felt like he went a bit amiss,” she said.
“I think it had to do with the storm and he just wasn’t a big fan of the rain hitting him in the face.
“He may have also been scared of the thunder, he just took himself to the outside rail and unfortunately hit it.
“I was trying my hardest to pull him up because I thought something had happened.
“I really just lost steering of him, I felt a little bit like a trick rider.
“I was hanging off his head for a couple of strides before I let go.
“I pulled off his bridle and all his head gear, and I was holding on to it when I stood up on the track.
“None of the stewards had any vision of what happened – they could only go off by what I remembered.
“They were just very confused as to what happened and how it all went about.
“They also wanted to make sure that the horse was alright.”
A veterinary examination revealed Nokondi to be lame in the off fore and near hind legs.
Cole was advised that he must present a veterinary clearance for Nokondi with the gelding required to barrier trial satisfactorily before racing again.
After winning her first race in her first career start on Looking For You for Cole on December 9, Lines injured her leg 11 days later when she fell from Cole’s Familja during a trial when the saddle shifted.
Returning to action at Fannie Bay on January 14, the apprentice guided Brazenpine home for Cole with the saddle slipping after the race.
Then on March 4, the saddle slipped on the Chris Nash-trained Archie James during a heat of the National Apprentice Race Series with Lines set to claim an unlikely victory before being pipped on the post by Gary Clarke’s Thunder Peak – ridden by fellow Top End rider Jade Hampson.
To cap things off, Lines had to forfeit her remaining three rides because of heat exhaustion.
And of course, don’t forget the Nokondi episode on March 18 where she was also examined by paramedics at the track before having further tests at Royal Darwin Hospital.
“I suffered ligament damage to my right ankle, fortunately no breaks or fractures,” she said.
“I had bruising on my liver, but that has subsided – it’s just my ankle at the moment.
“After the latest incident I was starting to think ‘why me, why me’, but in the end all jockeys have a fall and I’m just going to get on with it.
“Yeah, I’ve had a rough trot, but there will always be another race and I’ll keep coming back.
“I’m only 16, I’ve got a very long career ahead.
“It’s good to be back after another incident, I’m really keen for Friday.
“I’ve got one of my favourites going around – Brazenpine, it’s good to be back on her.”
Determined as ever to make a fist of her career, it’s naturally concerning for parents David and Rosa, as well as for Cole and wife Rhonda, when Lines has an issue in the saddle.
“My mum wants me to change careers,” she said.
“Dad’s just said that I’ll get back up and has encouraged me to get back on.
“Same with Phil – he said, ‘just push through, you’ll be OK, as long as you’re not severely injured you can get back up and keep going, and we’re all here to support you’.
“For the time being, just getting back into the swing of things is my priority.”
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