Editorial: Kah’s pure genius helps put Airbnb demons behind her

Any doubts that Jamie Kah would never return to her best in the saddle have been put to bed. She is riding better than ever.

Jockey Jamie Kah wins the Adelaide Cup on Daqiansweet Junior.

Jamie Kah the freak is back.

Her five winners at Morphettville on Adelaide Cup day showed the glamour girl of racing has put last year’s Airbnb saga well and truly behind her.

Kah was at her clinical best in her home town.

Watching her poise and class in the saddle showed how much racing missed her when — out of her own doing — she was banned for three months over the spring carnival.

Scarily for her rivals, it looks like Kah is riding better than ever.

Her ride on Adelaide Cup winner Daqiansweet Junior summed up her day out at the office.

Settling worse than midfield, she never panicked even when the two leaders shot several lengths clear rounding the home turn.

Highlighting the immense confidence in herself as a rider, Kah said she always felt she would reel them in.

She knew she was tracking the right horses in Tigertiger and Skelm and trusted her instincts.

And that’s why Kah is so good.

She is not only one of the most balanced jockeys in the world, she is a master tactician.

Kah can sum up a race as good as any jockey in the land.

Jamie Kah with the Adelaide Cup. Picture: Michael Marschall

But to know how well Kah is really riding, look no further than her win on Ruthless Dame at Flemington on Saturday.

When the two-year-old filly was starting to wilt in the final 100m, Kah switched the whip from the right hand to the left hand and she found another gear to hang on and win.

It is that type of skill and strength why so many experts and punters laud the 26-year-old — who has only been riding for 10 years — as a freak.

Ruthless Dame, under Jamie Kah, wins at Flemington on Saturday.

Despite missing almost half the season, Kah is sitting equal fourth with Craig Williams on the Melbourne metro jockeys’ premiership.

Any trainer and owner, after seeing Kah at her freakish best on Monday, would be crazy not think about putting her on their horse.

Kah, rightly so, copped a hammering in the media when she and four other jockeys were banned for the Airbnb breach.

It was a shocking incident that should never have happened and Kah’s reputation took a huge hit.

But as senior writer Ben Dorries rightly pointed out after Kah was banned, sport is filled with great stories of redemption.

If Kah keeps riding like she did on Monday, the Airbnb incident will feel like a distant memory.

In some ways, it already does.

* Responsibility for editorial comment is taken by News Corp Australia’s editorial director of racing and sports wagering Matt Williams.

Originally published as Editorial: Kah’s pure genius helps put Airbnb demons behind her