Episode 425: Belinda Hodder

The popular north coast jockey knew something was wrong the moment she hit the ground in the early part of a Port Macquarie track gallop in April. She’d been back in the saddle for just three weeks following a lengthy break for the birth of her first baby. Belinda says she’s making good progress seven weeks after the spill. Belinda expresses her appreciation for the skills of her orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Andrew Cree. She says the horse she was riding in the track gallop was the quietest in the stable. Belinda outlines the cause of the fall, and her decision to remain completely still. The jockey talks of her first few rides back following extended “maternity leave”. Belinda says she’d been riding work for Port Macquarie trainer Paul Shailer for many weeks before taking race rides. She shares the remarkable story of her birth in Kempsey in the early 1990’s. Her arrival caught everyone by surprise. Belinda talks of her early life in Perth and a move back to Kempsey in 2002. When she made the decision to become a jockey, her mother Julie took out a trainer’s licence simply to apprentice her daughter. She recalls her first race ride and her first win at Taree on Melbourne Cup day 2008. The jockey remembers the ill judged ride on one of her mother’s horses that triggered the transfer of her indentures to another trainer. Belinda reflects on time spent with trainers Gordon Yorke, Ross Stitt, Marc Quinn and latterly with John Morrisey on the Gold Coast. This recent fall isn’t her first. She looks back on the time when she spent twenty months on the sidelines in a four year period. Belinda says her mother Julie is now out of racing and running a business in Grafton. She talks of other family members. She looks back on two wonderful seasons which brought her a total of 115 NSW winners. Belinda remembers some of her best country wins and acknowledges the support of one particular northern trainer. The talented jockey pays tribute to the veteran northern jockey who became a valued early tutor. She says he hasn’t had the good fortune to ride a top class horse, but makes mention of a few talented “bushies”. Belinda speaks of fiance Drew Smith, a former north coast Chairman of Stewards and currently the manager of several prominent jockeys and one leading northern rivers trainer. She says she won’t even contemplate her likely future until her recovery is complete. This is an interesting chat with one of the best of a strong group of female jockeys in northern NSW.