Jockey Jamie Kah splits with manager James Henderson

Racing golden girl Jamie Kah has made a big call following her rapid rise to stardom.

Australia’s golden girl of the racetrack, Jamie Kah, has split with her high-profile manager.

Kah’s rapid rise to stardom last year coincided with her joining forces with manager-to-the-stars James Henderson.

The move to Henderson, who manages former Australian Test cricket captain Ricky Ponting and other top sporting talent, was seen as a way of parlaying her popularity on the track into the mainstream sporting and celebrity world.

Kah was to be the next Michelle Payne, with that girl-next-door image breaking down barriers every day.

She piled up the Group One winners, becoming the first female jockey to win the Victoria Jockey Premiership with a record-breaking 105 wins and was hot property before things started to go sour, like really sour, in August last year.

Jamie Kah. Picture: Getty

James Henderson and Alastair Clarkson. Picture: Michael Klein

Kah and jockeys Ben Melham (with whom she was having an affair) and Ethan Brown and apprentice Celine Gaudray were stood down by Racing Victoria after a Mornington house party that broke Covid lockdown restrictions.

The group hired an Airbnb, breaching state government “stay-at-home” directions.

Kah was sensationally banned from riding for two months, missing Melbourne’s lucrative Spring Carnival.

This was later overturned on appeal, but the fallout was significant, with Kah’s private life in the spotlight much to her disdain as she split with fiance and former jockey and horse trainer Clayton Douglas.

The pair owned a private training facility in Mornington.

Her affair with Melham, a married father of three, then hit the headlines with the pair posting pictures together on a lavish European holiday.

It’s understood Kah and Melham have hit a rough patch, with their on-again, off-again relationship floundering and happy snaps scratched from social media.

Jockeys Ben Melham and Jamie Kah. Picture: Ian Currie

Behind the scenes, her relationship with Henderson was also starting to unravel.

Whispers among racing figures say Henderson was finding it difficult work with the jockey, with words like “transparency” bandied about. Page 13 understands the pair quietly parted ways in recent weeks.

Henderson’s stable of stars includes top jockey James McDonald, who joins Damien Oliver as part of Henderson’s Dynamic Sports and Entertainment Group.

Glamorous English TV presenter Francesa Cumani and Channel 7 racing team, Jason Richardson, Emma Freedman and McDonald’s fiancee, former jockey Katelyn Mallyon, are also clients.

Jamie Kah claimed a record-breaking 105 wins in the 2020-21 racing season. Picture: Jason Edwards

Henderson has had his hands full this week with another of his biggest clients, North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson, embroiled in the Hawthorn racial scandal.

Henderson is no stranger to his clients courting controversy. He supported chef George Calombaris during the wage underpayment saga and cricketer Tim Paine during last year’s sexting scandal.

It was the well-regarded Henderson who broke the news that the former captain and wicketkeeper was taking an extended break from the game.

Henderson on Friday confirmed he and Jamie Kah had mutually parted ways.

“Jamie and I agreed that she no longer requires external management” adding she “is not interested in broader media or commercial opportunities.”

He continued, “Jamie is an extraordinary athlete who will continue to be a trailblazer for racing both here and overseas.”

Bet on that!