Champion South Australian jockey Clare Lindop is set to sing her Adelaide Cup swansong on the Grant Young trained outsider Tunes.
Jockey Clare Lindop will ride Tunes, above, in the 2018 Adelaide Cup at Morphettville. Photo by Jenny Barnes.
Lindop announced during the week that she would be retiring from the saddle at the end of the 2018 Adelaide Festival Of Racing in May and next Monday’s Group 2 $400,000 Adelaide Cup (3200m) at Morphettville will be her last ride in the time honoured two miler.
Lindop has ridden the winners of four Group 1 races and her first win at the elite level was on Exalted Time in the 2006 Adelaide Cup when it was run at Group 1 status.
The odds are stacked against Lindop claiming a second Adelaide Cup winning trophy on restricted class stayer Tunes who is listed as a $61 chance at Ladbrokes.com.au.
The nine year old is the winner of eleven of his one hundred and three starts and is coming off a last start second in a 2250m BenchMark 82 Handicap at Morphettville Parks on February 24.
Lindop is looking forward to the next stage of her life and would love to stay involved in racing and is equally open to pursuing other endeavours.
“I’m excited for my next chapter, whether I remain involved in the racing community, or pursue new challenges in business or parenthood,’’ Lindop told The Advertiser.
“I’m extremely passionate about racing, women in sport and I hope to become more actively involved with charity work.”
“I am extremely proud of my achievements and the fact that I am part of racing history.”
“Racing has treated me as an equal from the outset and it has only been recently that I have taken the time to reflect on my role as a groundbreaker for women in the sport, which is testament to an industry that rewards ability over gender or background.”
As well as riding four Group 1 winners throughout her illustrious career in the saddle, Lindop was also the first Australian woman to ride in a Melbourne Cup in 2003, the first female winner of the Victoria Derby on Rebel Raider in 2008 and was a South Australian Metropolitan Jockey’s Premiership winner on three occasions.
Tunes has drawn barrier six in the eighteen horse Adelaide Cup field while the $5 favourite Fanatic has also drew nicely at gate three.
Michael Walker has kept the ride on the Lindsay Park trained Fanatic who is coming off a last start second in the Listed $120,000 3AW Roy Higgins Quality (2600m) at Flemington last Saturday.
Fanatic has raced over the two miles on three occasions and after being unplaced twice in New Zealand, was able to win the Listed $150,000 Sandown Cup (3200m) at Sandown at the end of the 2017 Melbourne Spring Carnival.
On the second line of betting at $6.50 is the Darren Weir trained Master Of Arts who was out of luck at the barrier draw and will jump from gate sixteen with Brad Rawiller to ride.
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