Lucy Warwick: WA’s Wonder Woman
On the eve of her 22nd birthday, Lucy Warwick has accomplished a remarkable amount in her jockey career and added yet another milestone to her impressive list of achievements last Saturday when guiding Spiritual Warrior to victory in the $130,000 Listed Kalgoorlie Cup.
The former showjumper-turned-champion apprentice previously had the world at her feet following a spectacular apprenticeship which saw her outride her metropolitan claim within 17 months, however, only a year later she would encounter some hurdles that almost led to her giving the game away.
After a much-needed break, the rejuvenated Warwick worked her way back up the WA riding ranks, claiming a swag of feature-race wins and, 18 months later, she was crowned the world’s number one female jockey.
Born at Murdoch Hospital to champion harness trainer-driver and now astute thoroughbred trainer Justin Warwick, son of the legendary Trevor, and former top-class showjumper, Carol, Warwick was always destined for equine greatness and rode horses from the time she could walk.
A keen showjumper and pony trots competitor growing up, her path changed course when her father switched racing codes in 2011 after recovering from a life-threatening staph infection.
“I was doing pony trots and then when Dad made his comeback, he had one starter in the trots and decided to try thoroughbreds,” Warwick said.
“I used to go to the trots all the time and then once Dad swapped over, I did, too.
“I wanted to leave school and try something else at the time, so I thought I’d try being an apprentice jockey.
“Dad was all for me becoming a jockey, but Mum was a bit iffy and she probably still is.”
Warwick had her first race ride in February 2014 and made an immediate impression, riding more than 100 winners in an exceptional first full season as a jockey before concluding her apprenticeship after a winning treble at Belmont in July 2015 saw her outride the last of her claim.
However, being only 17 years-of-age, she had to wait a further three months until her 18th birthday to officially become a senior rider.
Reflecting back on her rapid rise to stardom, Warwick says she didn’t realise the significance of outriding her claim so fast at the time.
“It wasn’t even something I’d thought about,” she said.
“I wasn’t part of racing early enough to understand and it all happened so quickly.
“It’s not that I wasn’t grateful, I definitely was, but now when I look back now, I think, ‘wow, I’d really appreciate having a claim again’.
“I was very lucky with all the opportunities I had and I had some good horses to get me going.”
One of those good horses who proved to be an important figure in Warwick’s apprenticeship was Lucciola, a Verglas mare trained by her father, whom she won seven-consecutive races aboard.
Stablemate Wink And A Nod, a winner of almost $800,000 who combined with Warwick for 11 wins, including two at Group 3 level and five at Listed level, also played a pivotal role in Warwick’s establishment by continuing her momentum into her senior riding career.
“When I started, I had Lucciola who got me through my apprenticeship,” Warwick said.
“Six of our wins were metropolitan, so that was over a quarter of my three-kilo claim.
“After Lucciola there was Dubai Escapade, who won the WA Cup, and then once I outrode my claim I had Wink And A Nod, who was my first Listed winner.”
Despite an unparalleled start to her senior career, Warwick’s form in the saddle began to taper off 12 months later.
As an 18-year-old who had lived, breathed and dedicated her life to racing for the previous three years, Warwick suddenly found herself looking at her job as an unpleasant chore, rather than her passion as it had been previously.
As a result, she decided to take an indefinite break from race-riding in September 2016, opting to step away from the industry and experience the life she felt she was missing out on.
“Looking back at it, I was probably a bit dramatic,” Warwick said.
“It was nothing to do with rides, I just went through a phase where my weight went out of control.
“I was wasting a lot and I’d been pretty lucky because I never had to waste before that and, I’m sure there are jockeys who have done and still do it much harder than I had to, but I was having to lose one or two kilos each meeting.
“It messes with you a bit and you start to not look forward to races because you always have to hop in the spa, and then you’re dehydrated and don’t ride as well.”
Warwick spent her time away from racing focusing on things she previously enjoyed, leading to the purchase of a horse she could compete at show-jumping events with.
Whilst she now concedes her situation wasn’t as gloomy as she thought it was at the time, she says the time away allowed her to learn life balance, which has been an instrumental component in her resurgence since.
“It’s all very minor now I look back at it but, at the time, it’s what was on my mind and I wasn’t riding well, I thought,” Warwick said.
“I wasn’t confident in my races and I thought I should take a break.
“With horses, if they’re not in form they go for a spell so, I thought, ‘why are riders any different?’.
“It’s a pretty full-on sport and you’re here, there and everywhere, which I love, but if you’re not in the right frame of mind it can be quite annoying.
“It was nice to live a bit of a normal life and do stuff on the weekends.
“I still worked at the farm with Dad and I still loved horses, that was never the problem, I just wanted to enjoy something different.”
Whilst Warwick set no time frame on when, or if, she would return to race riding, she ended up making a return three-and-a-half months later.
Asked when she make the decision to launch a comeback, Warwick says being able to experience the industry on the other side of the camera reignited her passion.
“I was very lucky that Perth Racing gave me an opportunity to do mounted post-race interviews with winnings jockeys, which was pretty nice of them considering I’d had no training,” she said.
“I probably needed to practice a bit more, but it was awesome and, after interviewing Douglas Whyte, Damien Oliver and some other eastern states jocks, I thought, ‘okay, I’ve had enough now, I want to win a race and be interviewed’.
“I did the three Group 1 days and then I thought, ‘right, let’s do this’, and came back to ride in the Perth Cup on Dubai Escapade.”
It wasn’t long before Warwick found her groove again and, over the next 18 months, she re-established herself as one of the state’s premier jockeys.
A brilliant run of form aboard the Justin Warwick-trained Material Man, whom she claimed the Listed Northam Stakes, Group 2 Perth Cup, Group 3 Belmont Sprint, Group 3 Hyperion Stakes and Group 3 Strickland Stakes aboard within the space of just eight months, led to the Thoroughbred Racing Commentary Glob Rankings labelling her the world’s number one female jockey in June 2018.
In a stark contrast to the position she had found herself in 20 months prior, Warwick’s renewed vigour for racing and improved work-life balance saw her not only attain the prestigious accolade, but give her the confidence she needed.
“It was a very big change and it made me know that coming back was obviously the right thing to do,” Warwick said.
“I’ve learned from experience now that I have to keep my weight below 54 to ride good but, if I have to sweat, I usually don’t ride a good race.
“I’ve definitely got my weight under control now, which is a big thing, and it’s one less thing I have to worry about.
“I still have a showjumper, so it’s nice on my days off, or taking one Sunday off a month, to go to a horse show or have my own personal life.
“I just manage everything a bit better now and take a holiday every six months.
“Even if I don’t feel like I need a holiday, I think it’s important to have a week or two off to look after yourself.”
Fast forward to last Saturday where Warwick took the mount aboard $3.80 race-favourite, Spiritual Warrior, in the Listed Kalgoorlie Cup, her initial game plan didn’t go as expected after the notoriously-difficult gelding slipped out of the barriers and proceeded to pull fiercely behind a wall of horses, almost dislodging Warwick and forcing her to check off heels.
Despite the less-than-ideal start, Warwick maintained her composure and calmly ambled around the field to find the lead, rating the Blackfriars gelding to perfection before allowing him to give a strong kick on straightening and hold off the fast-finishing First Affair over the concluding stages of the time-honoured event.
It was another well-executed display in a feature race for Warwick, further enhancing her reputation built in recent years as a big-race rider, however, she admits her confidence levels in claiming the historic Cup took a hit after the tardy beginning.
“I thought, ‘oh, I’m going to cop a big spray here’,” she laughed.
“It was a bit hairy for a moment.
“I think sometimes I’m actually calmer in a big race than I am in a normal race.
“I just remind myself that it’s just a race and to just ride it like any other race.”
Although nobody else can help her once she jumps aboard a horse on race-day, it is clear when you speak to Warwick that she credits a lot of her success to her parents.
She insists the lessons she learned from her mother as she honed her craft as an equestrian rider in her early days has been instrumental to her abilities now as a jockey, whilst her father’s elite level of all-round horsemanship has given her the grounding she needed to be able to triumph in the racing industry.
“They’ve played the major role,” Warwick said.
“Mum was and is a brilliant rider, she show-jumped at the World Cup back in her day, and she’s groomed me from day dot to be a good rider in the equestrian side of it.
“Dad has obviously helped me massively racing-wise and I wouldn’t be where I am now without him.”
Asked what she would like to achieve in the near future, the always pragmatic-yet-optimistic Warwick dreams of one day achieving the ultimate success with her family.
“Obviously everyone wants to win a Group 1, but I’d love to win a Group 1 for Dad because it’s a real team effort down there,” she said.
“Dad’s training and Mum and I ride the trackwork, so that would be pretty nice.
“Other than that, I’m pretty happy to just keep cruising along.”
Michael Heaton