From fish and chip shop to 2025 Stradbroke Handicap for jockey Cejay Graham

Cejay Graham’s first job was in a fish and chip shop and thank goodness she hated it, because it led her to becoming a jockey and having a fairytale crack at the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap on Saturday.

It’s not quite out of the frying pan into the fire.

It’s out of the fish and chip shop into the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap.

Young gun jockey Cejay Graham is buttering up for her first Stradbroke ride, but it was only a decade ago she was frying fish and crumbing calamari at a Port Macquarie fish and chip shop.

It was just as well she hated the gig.

It didn’t last long and it helped to convince her there was a much better career path – that of a jockey.

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The daughter of Peter Graham, a former jockey-turned-trainer, was soon set on a path that has had more twists and turns than an Agatha Christie novel.

There have been setbacks and major injuries but the determined young jockey had been a giant-killer in the Brisbane riding ranks and can now help write a Stradbroke fairytale when she rides home-bred hero The Inflictor.

“I was a teenager and working in the fish and chip shop because, like any young kid, I just wanted some of my own money,” Graham recalled.

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“I thought horses were amazing and I thought my Dad’s job was amazing.

“But for some reason I thought ‘I am a girl and I can’t do that’ and I knew my Dad didn’t really want me to become a jockey, because it’s a dangerous sport.

“My friend at the time was working in a fish and chip shop, so I thought, ‘well, I can’t be a jockey, I’ll give it a go’.

“I was making calamari and cooking fish and chips and serving people.

“I only got about a week into the job and I absolutely hated it.

“I don’t think I stuffed anything up, but the boss was a little bit stunned when I said ‘see you later’ after I hadn’t been there for long.

The Inflictor dominates Race 2 at Doomben! 💪 @nashhotpic.twitter.com/VDvywPyYXw

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 24, 2025

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“As soon as I got a new job of an afternoon at stables with (trainer) John Sprague, I thought ‘surely I don’t get paid for this’.

“I was initially just doing ground work, putting horses out in the yards, giving them a pick of grass, doing their stable boxes and looking after them.

“I then wanted to give riding trackwork a go.

“I knew Dad didn’t want me to do it.

“I remember vividly asking him to teach me how to ride trackwork, but I couldn’t get the words out and I just cried because I knew he really didn’t want his little girl to do it.

“All he said was that if I was going to do it, I had to do it his way, otherwise I wasn’t doing it.”

Stradbroke Handicap runner The Inflictor with trainer Craig Cousins and jockey Cejay Graham. Picture: Michael McInally

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Graham’s Stradbroke ride is just her fourth in a Group 1 but the 26-year-old has been a star in the Brisbane riding ranks with a series of stakes wins this year and last year.

Nothing has come easy, however.

Several years ago there were major injury setbacks when Graham endured a broken back and two broken wrists.

She would drive six hours from Port Macquarie to Brisbane for a handful of rides before making the trek back to race in country NSW the next day.

The worm started to turn when multiple Group 1 winning Brisbane trainer Kelly Schweida took Graham on as an apprentice jockey and she has never looked back.

Kelly Schweida and Cejay Graham. Picture: Grant Peters / Trackside Photography

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The girl who was raised a stone’s throw from Port Macquarie Racecourse is now taking the senior riding ranks by storm.

She is one of a growing army of female jockeys who are dominating.

Emily Lang and Angela Jones are the top two in the Brisbane jockey premiership race this season.

If The Inflictor can score the Stradbroke, it will be another feather in the cap of the females who are competing on an even footing with the males and beating them more often than not.

“These days, most owners are really excited to have a female jockey on which is absolutely fantastic,” Graham said.

Trainer @BBakerRacing gave @bendorries76 the lowdown on Robusto's Stradbroke chances at the Straddie calcutta in Brisbane today ... and he also gave a big tip for one of his runners at Rosehill Gardens. pic.twitter.com/jzquNASQl3

— Racenet (@RacenetTweets) June 13, 2025

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“You hardly hear any of the old stigma when some people used to say “oh, I’m not putting her on, she’s not strong enough’.

“Maybe there is still a tiny bit of it around with some of the old school trainers, but I think female riders have become a lot more accepted now.

“In our (female) jockeys’ room in Brisbane we have some experienced riders and that is great because the younger girls like me can really look up to them.”

Stradbroke Handicap jockey Cejay Graham. Picture: Grant Peters / Trackside Photography

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The Stradbroke Handicap has had its share of extraordinary tales over the years, but the Inflictor can write a colourful new chapter.

They might one day write a book about it if 60-year-old truck driving trainer Craig Cousins and the former fish and chip shop worker jockey Cejay Graham surge to an incredible Stradbroke triumph.

Bookmakers are giving The Inflictor a solid chance, rating him a $15 prospect.

Originally published as From fish and chip shop to 2025 Stradbroke Handicap for jockey Cejay Graham