Cover image courtesy of Melbourne Documentary Film Festival
It was whilst into her third year of Bachelor of Applied Science (Equine) at Charles Sturt University that Peta Hitchens discovered that her pony club mare Petite ‘N’ Dapper (Sir Dapper) was “quite nicely bred,” deciding to, along with her family, breed with her.
The handsome Riverdene Stud-based G2 Moir S. winner Sports Works was chosen as a partner, Peta taken by his attitude.
“We bred to him mostly because of his temperament, I thought that if the foal was too slow I’d have a nice riding horse or an eventer.”
Pony club mare produces a little ripper
But fate decreed otherwise and said foal, named Neat Work, “turned out to be a little ripper!”
Winning nine races including a couple at Canterbury and four in Canberra, Neat Work did a great job for his happy owners amassing over $125,000 in stakes racing 41 times between 2003 and 2008.
“We have bred with a couple of mares since but he has been the best,” Peta laughed, “the horse out of a pony club mare!”
Neat Work winning at Canterbury | Image courtesy of Sportpix
It was Peta’s petiteness, “at 4ft11 I am tiny,” that fuelled her childhood ambitions to be a jockey, recalling that “every time I walked on to a race course I was offered a job.”
“At 4ft11 I am tiny... every time I walked on to a race course I was offered a job.” - Peta Hitchens
However an academic career was in the offering and the path Peta has taken in that area has been set by her experiences in the racing world.
Mainly by seeing a jockey she knew, Ray Silburn who had ridden Neat Work to his first win, become a quadriplegic after a fall in Canberra in 2005.
“That effected me a lot,” Peta recalled, “and just a month later Gavin Lisk and Adrian Ledger lost their lives in falls.”
Peta Hitchens
It made me angry
“It made me angry,” she said, and determined to make a contribution in regards to preventing such awful things happening to other riders.
“I applied to do a PhD at the University Of Tasmania on jockey safety. I thought that there would be a link between horse welfare and the welfare of riders,” she said, noting that “it seemed reasonable that horses suffering an injury were also putting those who ride them at risk.”
“I applied to do a PhD at the University Of Tasmania on jockey safety. I thought that there would be a link between horse welfare and the welfare of riders.” - Peta Hitchens
Currently an Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne where she is the lead epidemiologist in the Equine Orthopaedic Research Group, Peta has a most impressive resume.
She completed her postdoctoral training in the United States where she was part of the California Horse Racing Board’s Racing Injury Prevention Program, working under the supervision of the renowned researcher Professor Susan Stover at the University Of California, Davis.
Recently she led a team’s the study “Changes in Thoroughbred speed and stride characteristics over successive race starts and their association with musculoskeletal injury” in which Professor Chris Whitton who is well known in racing circles was also involved.
Back to school
As if all that is not impressive enough, she went “back to school” to gain her Masters in Film & TV (Documentary) at the Victorian College Of The Arts.
Which is where the opportunity to bring two of her areas of great interest together was realised and the concept of Debut was born.
“I wanted to live vicariously though the apprentices,” she laughed, “through them seeing the life I dreamed of when I was a kid.”
“I wanted to live vicariously though the apprentices, through them seeing the life I dreamed of when I was a kid.” - Peta Hitchens
“Academic writing doesn’t always lend itself to real engagement,” she said, something film is more successful at doing.
And so, with the help of the Racing Victoria Apprentice Jockey Training Program, Peta was able to spend time with the young riders embarking on their careers, excited to choose a trio with differing backgrounds.
Behind the scenes filming Debut
Tom Spillane, Luke Cartwright and Lauren Burke.
“They’re the new recruits, three apprentices embarking on their first year as jockeys in one of the most dangerous sports in the world.”
A nice mix
“They have had three very different trajectories into a racing career,” Peta said.
Tom Spillane | Image courtesy of Racing Victoria
“Tom had never ridden a horse until he was 21 and he started the program at 24, coming into it with an injury.”
“Luke comes from family involvement and is apprenticed to his mother and grandmother Lyn Tolson and Leonie Proctor. And at 17 he is the youngest member of his year’s intake.”
Luke Cartwright | Image courtesy of Racing Photos
“Lauren’s family are not involved in racing at all but she has always been around horses, riding at pony clubs, show-jumping, etc.”
“So it is a nice mix.”
Lauren Burke | Image courtesy of Racing Photos
Peta enjoyed her time following the lives of the three apprentices, “we had a lot of fun filming the gym training scenes and I loved being at Lindsay Park early in the morning with Tom Spillane, it was beautiful.”
“We had a lot of fun filming the gym training scenes and I loved being at Lindsay Park early in the morning with Tom Spillane, it was beautiful.” - Peta Hitchens
Debut made its debut at the Nova cinema in Melbourne on Sunday morning, as part of the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival. It next heads to the Texas Gold Film and Sports Festival with Peta hopeful that it will be picked up by further festivals.
Debut is her graduate film, part of her degree tasks and those working with her were also students, Peta taking note of their transition in attitude to racing as they took part in the making.
“They were skeptical to start, I think there are members of the public who almost see jockeys as the enemy.”
Deep love of horses
“But as they got to see things from a jockey’s perspective they realised that you cannot be in racing unless you have a deep love for horses.”
The three apprentices profiled in Debut are in different stages of their racing careers even at this early stage, Lauren sidelined by injury; a compressed fracture in her lower back and concussion after a fall at Wangaratta a couple of weeks ago.
Meanwhile Tom Spillane is yet to have his first race ride whilst Luke Cartwright won the recent Rising Stars Series.
Peta is hoping that there will be an opportunity to continue her racing film making. “I would love for Debut to be the concept for a series, following young riders through each year of their apprenticeship as they come through the other end as senior jockeys, it would be really nice to follow that through.”
“I would love for Debut to be the concept for a series, following young riders through each year of their apprenticeship as they come through the other end as senior jockeys...” - Peta Hitchens
Telling their own stories
Debut runs for 20 minutes, taking the viewer behind the scenes from the class room to track work, beach work and jump-outs and trials and on to the races.
Peta allows her young stars to casually tell their own stories, evoking an empathy for them; leaving the audience hoping that they will enjoy successful careers.
Peta is excited by the “shifts in gender dynamics” in regards to Australian racing, noting that next Racing Victoria intake consists of eleven riders, ten of whom are female.
With the increased participation of women in race riding, there have been higher instances of injury and tragically death, something Peta has studied, finding little correlation between gender and accidents.
“There are more likely to be injuries and falls with less experienced riders, particularly when they are riding inexperienced and less accomplished racehorses and because women often still don’t get the same opportunities that men do, they are more likely to be riding those sorts of horses.”
“There are more likely to be injuries and falls with less experienced riders, particularly when they are riding inexperienced and less accomplished racehorses and because women often still don’t get the same opportunities that men do, they are more likely to be riding those sorts of horses.” - Peta Hitchens
Meaning that any perceived link between gender and injury/death is more due to a link in regards to their experience and the sort of horses they end up riding.
