Jockey Simone Montgomerie remembered 10 years on from Darwin Cup fall
Family and close friends have shared memories of a beloved Darwin jockey 10 years on from the tragic race fall which ended her life.
Northern Territory
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Beloved Darwin jockey Simone Montgomerie has been remembered by family and close friends 10 years after she tragically died in a race fall at Fannie Bay on Darwin Cup Day.
The racing world was rocked on Darwin Cup Day in 2013 when the 26-year-old suffered a heavy fall in the Lightning Plate when the horse she was riding bucked in the closing straight.
She died as a result of her injuries.
Ten years on, Montgomerie’s mother Lee-anne and her now 15-year-old daughter Kodah will attend the Palmerston Sprint and gather at the memorial garden at the Clarke Racing Stables to remember their loved one.
The Montgomerie family part-owns the Gary Clarke trained Syncline which will be racing in the Palmerston Sprint.
Sadly Simone’s father Peter won’t be at the garden to celebrate his daughter’s life – he’s currently holed up in Adelaide battling a rare blood cancer.
“Ten years have certainly gone fast, it really only feels like yesterday,” Ms Montgomerie said.
The Montgomeries are a proud horse family with Mr Montgomerie an accomplished country horse trainer best known for training On A Jeune to a fast-finishing second in the 2005 Melbourne Cup.
“Simone was riding ponies right back when she was kid, she then stepped up to help Peter with the horses and started track working with him,” Ms Montgomerie said.
“From there she grew and got the bug and became a jockey.”
Montgomerie was granted an apprenticeship in South Australia where she rode a swag of winners around the state including near her new home town of Streaky Bay.
She was first exposed to Darwin racing while working for leading SA based trainer Michael Hickmott and in the Top End she was able to link up with champion trainer Gary Clarke.
“Early on she was calling in and riding one or two work for us,” Clarke said.
“Things didn’t work out with Michael and she was in a bit of limbo as to what she would do and then we offered her a job and she came across to us.
“She was a bit under rated early days. When you go right back through her life she was in pony club and showjumping.
“When the opportunities came along she jumped hurdle after hurdle.”
Clarke said it was on the tricky horses Montgomerie’s skills came to the fore.
“With the difficult ones to ride trackwork she came into her own. After a while when I realised that ability that she had,” Clarke said.
“If we got a hard one to ride, some of the boys would shy away and not want to ride it, so I’d put Simone on and tell her what to do and she would go around no worries at all.
“She was on fire right to the end. It was great to see her on top that season. She was the first, and still has been the only female, to win the premiership.”
As she so often was in her record-breaking season, Montgomerie was at the head of the field in the Lightning Plate.
Her mount Riahgrand, bred by her father, was leading in the straight looking strong and for everyone watching it looked like another special win was just 300m away.
Moments later Riahgrand appeared to shy and baulk near a crossing and Montgomerie was catapulted off the horse, suffering a heavy fall.
Despite the efforts of paramedics, Simone died - a moment well remembered by Sharlene Clarke, who had taken her in like a family member.
“She was having the best season of her career and it was just all so terribly sad,” she said.
“She was such an integral part of the stable and our success. She was a bloody good rider – particularly a track rider, one of the best.
“She worked hard to become the top rider and win the premiership. She had so much more to give.
“Kodah used to treat (our children) Chris, Guy and Ella like brothers and sisters. We have such wonderful memories.”
The sentiment is echoed by Mr Clarke who referred to Montgomerie as a second daughter.
“She was like a second daughter to us and even to this day Kodah is still part of the family,” he said.
“We are still very close. Lee-anne and Sharlene talk all the time over the phone and me and Pete, neither of us are real talkers, but we chat regularly.”
Montgomerie’s passion for horses has passed on to her daughter, who was only five in 2013.
“Simone was a very good mum to Kodah. They had a great relationship and Kodah also loved the horses,” Ms Montgomerie said.
“To this day Kodah still loves the horses. She rides regularly – she has a show horse that she rides and she’s done very well herself. She won a national title two years ago.
“I can see a lot of resemblance. She does look like her mum. She is a spitting image of her really.”
The Darwin Cup is a time to remember Montgomerie’s legacy with the Lightning Plate now run as a tribute to her life.
And the link between the two families continues to prove successful with wins including a Pioneer Sprint, last year’s Palmerston Sprint and two Lightnings.
“It’s great that have a race run in Simone’s honour. I’ve been fortunate enough to part own a couple of good horses with Gary Clarke who have won that race,” Lee-anne said.
“She was the first female to win a premiership and to this day she has still got that title which I’m very proud of.
“She really was just blossoming into her riding and Gary had helped her grow.”
Syncline is the one to watch this time around in the Palmerston Sprint and with a favourable draw and Darwin champion jockey Jarrod Todd aboard, who can begrudge it another big win.
“It’s always great to win the big races, but it means that bit more when it’s for people like Pete and Lee-anne,” Clarke said.
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