Retired jockey Katelyn Mallyon takes up reins at Channel 7 commentary gig
RETIRED jockey Katelyn Mallyon’s ties to Caulfield Racecourse run deep, and a week out from Cup day, Channel 7’s newest commentator tells why the track where her grandfather won the premier race three times has her heart.
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HORSERACING is in jockey Katelyn Mallyon’s blood.
She was raised in a family of competitive riders and, as a Group 1 winner, has added to her family’s rich racing history.
But now the fourth generation hoop is on a different track, taking up the reins — and microphone — as part of the Channel 7 commentary team.
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And she can’t wait to be part of all the action at Saturday’s Caulfield Cup — beside her “favourite winning post”.
While her Group 1 win came in the 2017 William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley, the 24-year-old notched up most of her career wins at Caulfield Racecourse.
“I loved riding at Caulfield,” she told the Leader.
“It’s a very unusual track and it brings a lot of horses and jockeys undone if you don’t know the course.
“There’s a hill at the 1400m and there’s a side before the home straight — you can easily get lost out there.”
Mallyon said knowing the contours of a track was key to riding success, especially when in charge of that much horsepower.
“The best way I can put it is that being a jockey is like driving a really fast car,” she said.
“When you’re driving you have to make split-second decisions as to what lane you want to be in, it’s the same for a jockey — although there’s no airbags on a horse, it’s pretty dangerous.
“That’s what separates a good jockey from a bad one, the ability to make the right decisions quickly.”
Mallyon’s sentimental ties to the Caulfield Cup stretch back five decades.
Her grandfather, Mick Mallyon, is racing royalty, having won the elite 2400m race three times.
And this year’s main event will mark 50 years since his first Caulfield Cup win atop Bunratty Castle in 1968.
He will be at the track for this year’s event and Mallyon is hopeful her plum media gig will give her an opportunity to marry family connections with work duties.
“I’m really excited to have Pop coming along and I’m hoping I’ll be able interview him on the day,” she said.
“It’s 50 years since he won (his first Caulfield Cup) so this year is pretty special for our family.
“He dominated the Caulfield Cup — he was a Caulfield specialist, I guess you could say.”
Mallyon said despite riding being the family business (her parents Brett and Mary were also jockeys, as is her brother Andrew), she always knew she would end up working in the media.
“I always saw myself going that way, even though I was also mad on wanting to be a jockey,” she said.
“I retired (from racing) in June and haven’t looked back and I’ve obviously been given the best opportunity with Channel 7, working with Bruce McAvaney and Jason Richardson and learning so much.
“And obviously I’m so excited that I still get to have heavy involvement in the industry I love, even though it’s in a different role.”
Mallyon said making the choice to retire from the dangerous sport wasn’t a particularly onerous one.
“I just didn’t feel I had much more to do (in the sport),” she said.
“I had achieved the top level, I won a Group 1 — that’s every jockey’s dream — and I was the first girl to win two metropolitan premierships in Melbourne.
“I was so fortunate and I didn’t feel I needed to do anything more in my career, I was satisfied with what I had achieved.”
Mallyon said while horseracing is still a male-dominated industry, gender inequality hadn’t been something she struggled against.
“As an apprentice I never felt that sort of thing and I got just as many opportunities as the boys,” she said.
“I’ve won a Group 1 and four Group 2s, so I’ve competed at top level and proved I was good enough to do that.
“It’s a tough game, it’s competitive.”
But she said the industry today was a far cry from her mother’s days as a jockey when women weren’t allowed to ride in the same races as men.
“Believe it or not there was a time when men and women couldn’t compete against each other, so let’s just say the industry has come a long way,” Mallyon said.
And while her partner, top jockey James McDonald, continued to try and write his name into the history books, Mallyon would focus on making a splash in her future behind the mic at several of Melbourne’s biggest racing events.
“The Caulfield Cup is so prestigious — it's one of the big three in Melbourne, when you’re here you feel like you’re part of history,” she said.
“No matter who wins or what happens out there, this day is recorded in the history books so years later you can always say, ‘I was there in 2018 when, hopefully James, won the Caulfield Cup’.”
Details: mrc.racing.com
GETTING THERE
- Punters planning to drink can catch a train in, with Frankston, Dandenong, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines departing regularly from Flinders St to Caulfield station
- Racegoers can catch a Route 3 or 3a tram from Swanston St and get off at Stop 56
- Buses also go to the track from Stud Park shopping centre, Wellington Rd, Monash University (Clayton) and Chadstone Shopping Centre via SmartBus Route 900
- Route 264 buses will head to Caulfield Racecourse from Kew and Auburn, Tooronga and Holmesglen train stations
- Gates open about an hour before Race 1 and bags may be searched when entering the track
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