By Casey OÇonnor
An “unheard of” five wins from five starts by novice apprentice jockey Emily Lang was the highlight of the rescheduled Warwick Picnic Race meeting at Allman Park at the weekend.
Warwick Turf Club President Barry Burgess said the club had been looking for something special from the event which had been controversially postponed the week prior and it came in the form of Lang – riding in just her second race meeting.
Turf club president Burgess was a happy man on Monday, a far cry from the disappointment of having the meeting cancelled the previous week.
He said the Sunday meeting, allocated by Racing Queensland, went off without a hitch.
“It was important for us, (the Jockey Club) to run this meeting to restore the faith of owners trainers and jockeys in the club’s ability to deliver a race meeting as set down in the Queensland Racing calendar,” Mr Burgess said.
Many of the runners from the cancelled program were nominated for Sunday’s meeting and despite a strong meeting at Gatton on Saturday, the club received solid acceptances for the meeting and 77 horses raced on the eight-race card.
He said it came as no surprise that the course held up perfectly for the eight races.
The club committee were grateful for the support they received from the public.
Burgess thanked the sponsors for their commitment to the club after the previous week’s debacle.
However, he said it was Lang who turned a successful event into one that will go into Warwick folklore with her star performance.
Prior to the Warwick meeting Lang had had only one race ride. She rode a winner on debut the previous Saturday at the meeting at Nanango and arrived at Allman Park on Sunday with five rides at the reschedule Picnic meeting.
Her ride in the first race was for her bosses Steven O’Dea and Matthew Hoysted. Furnace on Fire was sent out $2 favourite and was a narrow winner in the Grove Juice Maiden.
The 4kg claiming apprentice must have been pinching herself. Two race rides to wins but the day was only getting started and so was Emily Lang.
Throughout the day the 21-year-old showed composure and ability well beyond her very limited race experience as she rode not one but five winners on the card. Giving her a career average of 100 per cent.
It was a performance that hard-nosed racing types and others scrambling for the history books and google in an effort to find a similar performance which Matthew Hoysted believes is a Warwick and possibly a National record.
“It’s unheard of,” Hoysted, one of her bosses said of the performance.
“For a 4kg apprentice to ride six winners.
“We are talking to some people to see if it’s been done before.”
Emily admitted she was stunned after the meeting.
“I knew I was riding a couple of good chances, but never did I expect to ride five winners,” the 21-year-old admitted.
Lang has been around horses all her life but is the first in her family to follow a career in racing.
Her mother, father and grandfather were on the course to witness the milestone.
Lang’s winners included a double for her bosses stable and winners for trainers Kacey Fogan, Corey and Kylie Goran and Beau Gorman.
Lang was set to begin her riding career at the postponed meeting in Warwick a week earlier. Having now had six rides for six wins she is a firm believer that “Things happen for a reason and every cloud has a silver lining.”
When her riding commitments for the day were completed the committee Warwick Turf Club invited Emily and her family to join them in the members bar where President Barry Burgess made a presentation to the young rider.
Lang’s next ride will be at Wondai on Saturday, where she will claim three kilos for the meet.
