Jamie Kah’s first boss trainer John Macmillan speaks about the star jockey’s racing journey

Jamie Kah is the golden girl of Australian racing but she could once have been lost to the sport when she became a target for online trolls and received vicious text message abuse.

Kah’s first boss, South Australian trainer John Macmillan, has for the first time laid bare how close an upset Kah came to walking away from the sport she is now dominating.

It came as the young jockey was emerging from her apprenticeship, at a time she had also been rocked by the tragic death of jockey Caitlin Forrest, caused by a fall at Murray Bridge in October 2014.

Kah took time out from the sport, going backpacking around Europe where she met up with fellow Adelaide jockeys Libby Hopwood and Claudia Lyons.

Macmillian said the abuse Kah copped, including from people who sent her vile message on her mobile phone, could have forced her to walk away from racing for good.

“When she finished her apprenticeship she got a lot of nasty abuse and a lot of flak from online trolls,” Macmillian told News Corp.

“At that stage they could also get hold of her phone number because it was being published.

“These days you can’t track her phone number down, if a member of the public was trying to track her down they would get her manager, not her.

“Jamie had people sending her all sorts of abusive, bullying cr-p.

“Some of the vitriol she had to deal with was incredible.

“It was mostly from losing punters, a lot of people were backing her because she was successful.

John Macmillian with Jamie Kah in 2012.Source:News Limited

“That meant a lot of time she would be riding a horse that was favourite that probably shouldn’t have been – it was only the favourite because she was riding it.

“And then she would cop a heap of abuse because it wouldn’t win.

“There was also a little bit of jealousy from within racing circles but the abuse she copped was from mostly outside racing.

“It was a combination of the cr-p she was getting on social media, and it was also around the same time Caitlin Forrest was killed in a race fall, and it all really got to her.”

Macmillan’s memory of those times may go some way to explain why Kah is such a private person these days.

She has soared to the top of the racing game, sitting on 99 Melbourne winners this season and still on the brink of history after enduring a frustrating day at Sandown on Wednesday.

Macmillian has been cheering her every step of the way and he will again on Saturday when Kah resumes her chase for 100 at Caulfield.

He said she has come a long way from when she could have been lost to racing and he feels her break from the sport at the time did her the world of good.

“When she took a break it was never certain that she was going to return to racing, she went away not saying she was giving up also not saying she wouldn’t either,” Macmillan said.

“But it turned out to be the best thing she ever did – just taking time off and living a normal life for a while.”

Jamie Kah being legged up by trainer Mick Price at Sandown on Wednesday. Picture: Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

Kah mixed pleasure with business on her break from racing, having had the opportunity to ride trackwork for Sir Michael Stoute and Jeremy Gask during her travels in 2015.

Macmillan, who helped mould Kah after she turned up at his stables at age 14 to work as a groom, never doubted Kah had the ability to be a champion jockey.

Kah’s mum Karen was initially reluctant to allow her to ride a horse when the youngster first turned up at Macmillan’s stables but she quickly convinced her mum otherwise.

Early on Macmillan identified how Kah was cut from a different cloth to many jockeys.

“She had an affinity with the horse, she clearly had empathy with them,” he said.

“She was always going to make it, when I saw her confidence around the horses.

“Probably the reason you will see female jockeys become more of the norm is because most boys are attracted to racing by the racing first and the horse second.

“Whereas the girls like the horse first and racing second.

“Most girls these days are 10 years in front of boys when they start, you cannot overstate the love for the horse and having a background around horses.”

Originally published asTrolls, abuse nearly pushed Kah out of racing

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