Jett in full flight at Gunnedah Gold Cup race day

This year’s Gold Cup at Gunnedah was a special occasion for 17-year-old Jett Newman as she secured her first Cup win, less than four months after her debut as an apprentice jockey.

While the Newman-ridden Osman established a comfortable lead and maintained it for most of the feature race at Gunnedah, the result came down to a photo finish as the second favourite pipped the favourite by the tiniest of margins.

Newman appeared destined for big things when she began with a bang at Murwillumbah on February 2, as she was the runner-up in her first race before winning her second race on the same day.

Newman rode Torque of Dreams to second place in race three before she rode Without Parallel to victory in race five.

The trainer of these two horses was Newman’s boss Matthew Dunn, who also trained the winning horse in Newman’s debut race.

Newman went on to record four wins and a second placing at Ballina on February 14, before having wins at Lismore, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Grafton, Ballina and Casino, in addition to numerous runner-up placings.

Newman rode in four races at Gunnedah last Sunday, with placings of third, eighth and sixth before her moment of glory.

Mack Griffith was the trainer for the Newman-ridden horses which placed eighth and first, while the other trainers Newman rode for were Kylie Kennedy and Sue Grills.

Newman said it was “very special to do it for Mack”, regarding her maiden Cup win.

With Osman close to the rail, the Scott Singleton-trained and Jenny Duggan-ridden Fiorsum Fred emerged from the left while picking up the pace and threatening to snatch the win.

Had the winning post been a couple of metres further away, the result could have been reversed.

Asked if there were any instructions or strategies for her in the feature race, Newman said, “I think we just wanted to be in the first couple.

“We thought maybe others would lead and we would sit in behind them, but he just took up the lead too well and they just sat behind, so we were comfortable.

“(We) just kind of wanted to be in the first couple (of) horses, and took up the lead really well, so we just kept him there where he was comfortable.”

Newman has a strong background in horseracing as her dad Mitch was a jockey, and a champion Sydney apprentice in 1998-99 and 2000-01.

Having won the pony racing final at Warwick Farm on Australia Day in 2022, Jett Newman subsequently progressed to horseracing and said she aspires to become a Sydney jockey.