Kyra Yuill: Back To Her Best
Kyra Yuill, arguably WA’s most improved jockey over the last 12 months, continued her remarkable run of form when booting home a winning treble at Esperance last Friday.
But that’s not to say that the 29-year-old south-west product hasn’t shown an abundance of ability in the saddle previously, as she holds claim to not only being crowned the state’s Champion Apprentice in 2010-11, but also the first female to win a Perth Cup after guiding Western Jewel to victory in the Group 2 feature later that year.
After a dream apprenticeship saw Yuill have the racing world at her feet, her momentum was brought to an unfortunate standstill when a sickening fall in a race at Belmont Park in September 2012 saw her suffer bleeding on the brain and a snapped ankle.
She concedes now that it took a lot longer for her to get over the incident than she initially thought, with her mental scars recovering much slower than her physical ailments, however, she is now firmly back on track after a stellar past 12 months.
The daughter to well-regarded trainer and horseman, Graham, and his wife, Belinda, Yuill’s journey started in the small country town of Dardanup, a 20-minute drive south-east of Bunbury.
“I went to Dardanup Primary School and then for high school I went to Bunbury Grammar,” Yuill said.
“I was born on a few acres, so we always had horses in our backyard.
“Dad was actually a mounted police officer, so he’d always been into horses, and then when he stopped being with the mounted police he started breaking-in racehorses.
“I started pony club quite young and ended up getting into my eventing and playing a bit of polocrosse.
“I did a little bit of everything and got up to two-star level in eventing.”
Yuill often lent a helping hand at her father’s stable growing up but, despite being a keen equestrian rider, she had no ambition to pursue a career in the racing industry after school.
She says her attendance at race meetings had always been purely social until the idea of becoming a jockey was recommended to her repeatedly.
“I never wanted to be a jockey, which is funny for a person who has grown up around racing,” she said.
“But I always loved going to the races.
“Dad obviously didn’t have many racehorses because he mainly broke-in and pre-trained, but he always played around with a couple and, whenever he went to the races, I loved going.
“I loved the atmosphere and all that, but it never crossed my mind to be a jockey.
“Then, in about year 10, I started going to the track and helping Dad out when he was short on staff and people kept saying I should give it a go.”
The following year Yuill signed up as an apprentice jockey to Bunbury trainer Warwick Bradshaw, however, her parents determined she was only allowed to commence race riding under one strict condition.
She had to finish high school first.
“I did my trial rides while I was still at school and, at the time I wanted to kill them, but I’m really thankful that I did that now,” Yuill said.
“With what the industry is like, it helped me maturity-wise and it helped me grow up a lot.
“I did a lot of trials and, as soon as I finished school, they said I could start race riding.
“Then it was either go to leavers or have my first race ride, so I had my first race ride and it ended up going onwards and upwards from there.
“It probably wasn’t their career choice for me but, in saying that, at no stage have they ever not been supportive of what I’ve done.
“They’ve been fantastic.”
Widely recognised as being extremely dedicated and hardworking, the reputation is of no surprise after hearing Yuill’s devotion to the cause during her apprenticeship.
With the geographical dilemma of being located in Bunbury, more than 180 kilometres from the epicentre of WA racing at Ascot racecourse, she had the unenviable task of travelling much more frequently than her peers.
“I did a lot of kilometres on the freeway,” Yuill said.
“I started my apprenticeship with Warwick, then I ended up switching over to Dad about 12 months in.
“It was no fault of Warwick’s, he was a fantastic boss, but Dad was short on staff at the time.
“I used to do a morning in Ascot, a morning at Grant and Alana Williams’ in Karnup and then I’d be at the Bunbury track every other day.
“But I was very lucky to outride my claim and have some fantastic opportunities and ride some very nice horses throughout my apprenticeship.”
Yuill outrode her weight claim within the space of just two-and-a-half years, making her a non-claiming apprentice when she took part in the Carbine Club of WA Apprentices’ Cup at Belmont on September 8, 2012.
Fresh off a blistering previous two years and full of confidence, Yuill was commencing her run in the race aboard Grandstand, a then-five-year-old trained by her former boss, Bradshaw, before the gelding stumbled entering the home straight and sent her flying into the turf.
“I had a bleed on my brain and broke my ankle, which I’d already broken three years before that,” Yuill said.
“That put me out for about three or four months and I thought I was fine when I came back at the time but, as I look back now, it took me a long time to get over it.
“I was hearing a lot of comments that I was scared and stuff like that and I was a little bit in denial.
“I look back now, though, and it did knock me around and worry me.
“It took me a very long time to get over it.”
Over the following years Yuill would encounter many battles, both internally and on the racetrack, causing her to take some time away from the local industry in mid-2017.
Having not travelled or taken an extended break from the sport since she had her first race ride in 2008, she relocated to Melbourne for a three-month period to work for Aquanita trainer Robert Smerdon, whilst also riding at provincial race meetings.
Then, not long after returning home later in the spring somewhat refreshed and rejuvenated, Yuill decided to delve into uncharted waters.
“That’s when I signed up and got my dual rider-trainer licence,” Yuill said.
“I handed it back in this year, though, mainly because I’m back at Dad’s now and there’s no point in both of us having a licence.
“Also, I’m riding a lot more now.
“When I got my licence, I wasn’t riding a lot and was picking and choosing my meetings.”
Since Yuill has been based back in Bunbury, she has taken on the role of riding and operating her father’s horse breaking and pre-training business.
With extra responsibility comes far more work, however, and a typical day now sees Yuill not finish riding her own team of horses until midday after riding trackwork for multiple trainers at the Bunbury racecourse from sunrise.
“As I’ve come home the business has grown quite a bit,” she said.
“We’re lucky that we do quite a lot of breaking and pre-training for Bob (Peters) now.
“We also do pre-trainers for Darren McAuliffe and breaking and pre-training for clients like SJ Miller and Bellbridge Park.
“Most mornings I ride 15 to 20 horses.”
Whilst Yuill’s family-run horse education business may have been booming, however, her opportunities on the racetrack remained limited.
In an unlikely turn of events, a chance call to ride at a modest outback picnic meeting is arguably what started her revival to where she is today, boasting one of the state’s best overall winning strike rates over the past 12 months.
Coincidentally, the stable in question is whom Yuill rode a winning treble for at last Friday’s Esperance meeting.
“When I came back to Bunbury and was just picking and choosing my race meetings, Josh Brown rang me and said that they had two in at Leinster,” she said.
“He said they thought they could win and asked if I wanted to ride them.
“I didn’t know if I wanted to go, then I got off the phone and said to Dad, ‘bugger it, I’ll go’.
“I rode there and we had one winner and then I told them that I hadn’t been able to get rides in Esperance the previous few years but, if they wanted a rider for the season, to let me know.
“It went on from there and I ended up getting leading rider at Esperance that season and we got leading horse, as well, then it went into Kalgoorlie and now into this season.
“We’ve had a pretty strong 18 months as a partnership.”
Having claimed the leading rider award at both Esperance and Kalgoorlie last year, Yuill —who also landed her 500th winner earlier this season — has been able to ride a wave of momentum ever since.
With 66 winners in the first 28 weeks of the season giving her an impressive winning strike rate of almost 18 per cent, it’s safe to say she is back to her best.
However, she says it couldn’t be done without the help of those around her.
“This season I got a manager,” Yuill said.
“A very good friend of mine, Daniel Cripps, wanted to give it a go and it’s been great.
“I’m finding with my riding now that I’m very focused and very motivated, too, and I’ll ride everywhere.
“I’m also probably fitter now than what I was when I was an apprentice and I feel stronger now.
“I don’t go to the gym or anything like that, I just ride, and on the odd week I won’t ride light, just to give my body a break.
“I’m in a really good headspace at the moment and Dad and I have a really good relationship which works out really well.”
Having been at the crossroads of her riding career only 18 months ago, Yuill’s turnaround has been a testament to her character and work ethic.
Asked what she wants to achieve for the remainder of the year, she says she has had to re-evaluate her goals after a much better-than-expected start to the 2019-20 season.
“I’m just trying to make the most of every opportunity I get to throw my leg over, but I’d love to get 100 winners this season,” she said.
“When I first started with Daniel, I said ‘if you can get me 50 winners for a season, I’ll be happy’, and now I’ve got over 50 already so we have to get 100.
“I’m happy because everywhere I’m riding, I’m up there in the leading riders, and that’s all you can ask for.
“But I’d be very happy if I could get 100 winners this season.”
MICHAEL HEATON