OAKS Day is renowned as ladies' day but forget the frocks, fascinators, fizz and flutter for five minutes and focus on the females who don't dress in their finest and sip champagne when it comes to a day like yesterday.
Instead, some are scurrying around making sure the meeting runs smoothly while others are handling the horses you hope will create a collect. Meet a quality field of fillies:
Karen Van Kempen, manager of Colac Turf Club, Dunkeld, Mortlake and Terang and District racing clubs
IF you're one of the thousands of racegoers who will rock up to Dunkeld next Saturday, this woman has put in a solid six months of work to help you have a good time. Van Kempen is basically the CEO of the above clubs and oversees administration and race day management when it comes to an event like Dunkeld. She started her job four years ago, when she was looking for a career change. Since then, she has seen Dunkeld blossom from welcoming about 5000 people through its gates to about 12,000. While she enjoys watching crowds and clubs soak up country cups, what she loves most is pulling on her Blundstone boots and running jump outs as it lets her mix with trainers, jockeys and the horses. "That gives me enough diversification to continue the next day and look at the 100 emails sitting in my inbox," she said. Fortunately it's not all work and no play for Van Kempen, who has made Emirates Day with a group of girlfriends a habit. They will attend the meeting for the 15th time tomorrow.
Sue Van Rooy, Warrnambool Racing Club administrative manager
IF you asked Van Rooy what she did yesterday, "a little bit of everything" would be her answer. The administration manager of Warrnambool Racing Club looks after a range of things, including memberships, packages and race day bookings. At yesterday's Oaks Day she took entries for a competition to win a car, looked after trainers and made sure people in marquees were happy. "It's a great job to have and there's some great people involved in racing," she said. While the May Racing Carnival is the best time of the year for many people, Van Rooy says it's the busiest for her. While it takes about four months of planning, Oaks Day takes four to six weeks to prepare. Strangely the person who she replaced at the club was her mother Edna Hose, a former secretary.
Barbara Marshman, Hamilton trainer
MARSHMAN had a runner at Oaks Day at Flemington and a runner at Oaks Day in Warrnambool yesterday. "I love going to the big city meets but then I like going to Warrnambool for instance because it's a great track with great people. I like going to the country ones but there's nothing like the buzz of having a chance to win a race in the city." Marshman - who ended up heading to the bigger city yesterday - has been training horses for about 25 years, getting involved in the sport after being interested in show horses and riding a thoroughbred in work. A quarter of a century later and her passion for racing is still strong. "It's a great industry to be in," she said. "It's hard work and you have highs and lows. I've been lucky enough to win a lot of good races. I won the last race (on Oaks Day at Flemington) a couple of years ago." Being a female trainer amongst mostly male trainers is not an issue for Marshman. "I find that the males in the industry are really great."
Jenna Primmer, strapper
RISING at 3.45am to be at the racecourse at 4.20am sounds like a nightmare for some but Primmer insists cutting her dreams short to work Matthew Williams' horses is second nature. The 19-year-old has been working for the Warrnambool trainer for about five years. "Once racing is in your blood, it's hard to get out," said the daughter of trainer Mark Primmer and sister of jockey Brenton Primmer. "I enjoy it so much I decided to study a diploma of horse business management." She will complete her Geelong course in early December before becoming Williams' racing manager, which will see her handle administrative work and deal with owners. As well as waking early to work horses, she also works them in the afternoon. "On race day you get the horse ready by walking it around and getting it saddled up. You're really looking after the horse's general health and wellbeing." She obviously did her job right on Melbourne Cup Day as Williams' Flying Tessie bolted to victory in the last race of the day. "It was a great thrill," said Primmer, who also enjoyed the chance to socialise at Flemington.
Kate Walters, jockey
JUST two female jockeys partnered horses at Warrnambool's Oaks Day yesterday. The duo were New Zealander Linda Meech and Mount Gambier's Walters, who said the fact that she and Meech were the only females wandering around the rooms didn't faze her. "I don't see myself as a girl jockey, I just see myself as another jockey," she said. The South Australian ? who rode Shayne Fisher's Napash to victory in race four at Warrnambool yesterday - has been a jockey for a decade. Her dad Wayne being a trainer is how she became involved in the sport. "It doesn't matter where I go, I just love going to the races. I just love the horses."
At Flemington yesterday, master trainer Bart Cummings landed his ninth VRC Oaks and jockey Michael Rodd his first when Faint Perfume won the $1 million fillies Classic. However it wasn't as easy as some may have thought as the $1.65 favourite had to fight hard to beat the game Valdemoro ($10) by a neck with Savsbelle ($41) 4 lengths away third. "She has good staying ability and a good pedigree and when the pace is on here at Flemington you can get back and over the years good stayers always win," Cummings said.
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