Jamie Lee Kah (born 7 December 1995) is an Australian

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

. Since October 2020 she has been the world's top-ranked female jockey. In 2020/21 she became the first jockey to ride 100 winners in a

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Metropolitan racing season.

Life and career

Jamie Kah's parents

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

and

Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic l ...

are former speed skaters who represented Australia at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

. She grew up in Mount Pleasant in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia, where she began working at a friend's stables when she was 13. She began her riding

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

in 2011, rode her first race in March 2012 at

Streaky Bay Streaky the Supercat is a fictional superhero cat that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #261 (February 1960) and was created by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney. He is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Su ...

, and rode her first winner 14 days later at the Easter Saturday meeting at

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

. In her first full season, 2012/13, Kah won the Adelaide Jockeys' Premiership. She won the Premiership for a third time in 2017/18, then moved to Melbourne in January 2019, and won her first

Group One Group One, Group 1, Grade I or G1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. In Europe, the level of races for Thoroughbred racing is determined using the Pattern races, Pattern race sys ...

race on

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

in the

Australian Cup The Australian Cup is a Victoria Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older, held under Weight for Age conditions, over a distance of 2000 metres, at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia in March du ...

at Flemington in March. In October 2020 Kah was ranked the leading female jockey in the world, and 77th jockey overall. In February 2021 she was the world's 41st jockey overall, and the only female jockey in the top 100. She rode her 1000th winner at the Pakenham racecourse on Wednesday, 12 May 2021. By late January 2023 she had ridden 1,173 winners, including eight

winners. On 10 July 2021, Kah became the first jockey to ride 100 winners in a Melbourne Metropolitan racing season. She finished the Metropolitan season with 105 winners. In September 2021 she was suspended for five months by the Victorian Racing Tribunal for breaching

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

regulations and for providing false or misleading evidence to the breach investigation. She appealed against the severity of the penalty to the

Victorian Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state. The Supreme Court compri ...

, which upheld her appeal on 17 November, freeing her to resume riding. Kah and her fiance Clayton Douglas, a fellow jockey and trainer, have a property on the

Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geogra ...

, where she re-trains retired racehorses. On 29 January 2023, Kah won the

Hong Kong Classic Mile The Hong Kong Classic Mile is a domestic Group 1 four year old set weights Thoroughbred horse race in Hong Kong, run over a distance of 1600 metres. It was originally a Group 3 race and was the traditional lead-up race for the Hong Kong Derby. In t ...

on Voyage Bubble.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kah, Jamie 1995 births Living people Sportswomen from South Australia Australian female jockeys