Kehoe is happy to be back

Jockey Emily Kehoe after riding two winners at Lismore Turf Club’s Tradies Day on Saturday.

CATHY ADAMS

TIME out of the saddle is a jockey’s worst enemy.

So when Emily Kehoe booted home a double at Lismore on Saturday after two weeks on the sidelines she let out a huge sigh of relief.

In a profession where split-second decisions have ramifications with dollar signs and human safety, it can be easy for a young hoop to lose their nerve.

But as they say, you have to get back on the horse – and winning is the best medicine.

“It’s great to get that confidence back, you know every day you don’t ride it drops a bit,” Kehoe said.

The 27-year-old didn’t appear to be lacking in confidence as she wrapped up her winning double in the second race with a pair of front-running rides.

Only the wise, old head of Darron Coleman stopped her from extending her tally as Kehoe was beaten into second by the master on her two remaining mounts.

“Two wins and two seconds from four isn’t bad, one of my better days,” she said.

Eight meetings back from her fall, the apprentice is surely back on the radar for all trainers in the area.

Kehoe had been riding in good form and was receiving support from a raft of stables until a fall on the Gold Coast on January 16 brought her run to an end.

She was unable to ride in the Iris Nielsen ladies invitational at Ballina and felt she may have missed a few other opportunities.

But after a bold yet calculated showing at Lismore at the weekend, those opportunities are sure to come flooding back.

“When you go off the scene for a while you can be easily forgotten,” she said. “So it is good to put your name back up there and let everyone know you are still around.”

The spritely horsewoman was more than happy with her haul, but felt it was only a matter of luck that robbed her of her first treble.

“I felt my mount (Joe Eva) could’ve gone past the winner,” she said.

“But we just had to do that little bit of extra work early in the race which brought our run to an end a bit early.”

Joe Eva was a well-supported favourite in the third race, but the cunning Coleman would halt Kehoe’s streak and begin his own on the Danny Bowen galloper, Dowden.