Rushing home from school
each day to be part of stable
life, Heidi Keighran has been
around horses for as long as
she can remember. The
daughter of a Kyneton-based
jockey turned trainer, she
keenly played the roles of
strapper and track rider — her
overriding ambition always to
become a jockey.

Unfortunately nature got in the way — “I
got too big,” said Keighran, “which really
devastated me.” But rather than sit
around pining over a future that was not
to be Keighran decided to look elsewhere
for a career — but it had to be in racing.

And so she undertook work experience at
the Victoria Racing Club whilst completing
her VCE at the Sacred Heart College in
Kyneton. Out of school she was successful
in her application for a job in Racing
Victoria’s licensing and farrier department
and Keighran was on her way.
When a steward cadetship vacancy
arose some twelve months later Keighran
applied and in winning this coveted job
became the first female to be appointed
to such a position at Racing Victoria.

Thoroughly enjoying her job, Keighran
gets to see as much of Victoria as any
bookmaker — “I clock up about 1000km
a week,” she said, “averaging about two
or three race meetings.”

Last winter, when just over half way into
her four year cadetship, Keighran
decided to apply for the Australian
Racing Board’s Chairman’s Fellowship
— a travel scholarship funded by
Warren Block.

Enabling its successful candidates to
travel overseas to learn more about their
racing field, this fellowship (now into its
fourth year) was jointly awarded last
year to racecaller Matthew Hill and to
Heidi Keighran.

Determined to make the most of every
minute of her big adventure, Keighran, who had never before been overseas,
flew to Hong Kong in May for the start of
a six week educational tour.

Attending a racemeeting at Sha Tin she
was overwhelmed by the atmosphere —
“it was just an average meeting,” she
said, “but there were a phenomenal
number of people there.”

“Apparently the turnover for the day was
more than Australia wide on Melbourne
Cup Day!”

A Hong Kong highlight for Keighran was
the opportunity to work with the
renowned John Schreck. “He is widely
regarded as the best steward in the
world,” she said, “and it was a big thrill
to work with him before he retired — it
was great to see how he operated.”

Also enjoying tours of the stables,
laboratory and veterinary hospital at
Shatin, Keighran left Hong Kong full of
respect for the way their racing industry
is run — “everything is just so
professional,” she said.

After a quick sojourn to Macau where
she also attended a racemeeting,
Keighran headed to the United States,
spending a week in each of three states
— Arizona, Kentucky and Maryland.

Spending time at the University of
Arizona, she observed the running of the
Stewards Accreditation Program, one of
only two of its kind in America.
Established specifically to train students
in the art of stewardship, it teaches a
variety of subjects from race reading to
media relations.

From Arizona it was on to Kentucky
where Keighran who, until that time had
not known much about the world of
thoroughbred breeding, fell in love with
the stud side of this vast industry.

Visiting Coolmore’s American arm
Ashford Stud, she could not help but fall
under the spell of this amazing part of
the world — “it was just the most
beautiful of places,” she said.

Also taking in trackwork at Keeneland,
Keighran was shown around by local
trainer John Ward, attending a
racemeeting at Churchill Downs and
spending time with their stewards and
racing administrators.

A visit to the Kentucky Horse Park was
also on the agenda, the legendary
gallopers John Henry (now 27) and Cigar
popular tourist attractions.

Maryland was Keighran’s next port of
call and it was here that she took in the
workings of the Thoroughbred Racing
Protective Bureau, an association
established in 1946 to “expose and
investigate all activity prejudicial to
horse racing and to maintain public
confidence in the sport.”

Separate to the workings of racing
stewards, the TRPB is a wholly owned
subsidiary of the Thoroughbred Racing
Associations of North America.

Investigating such misdemeanours as
doping, battery use, racefixing and drug
use, the TRPB employs field agents who
attend race meetings across the country.
Collating evidence to pass on to
stewards or police, the TRPB uses similar
procedures to the FBI.

“They were working on a horse
substitution case at the time I was there,”
said Keighran who attended a Delaware
race meeting with one of the TRPB’s field
agents.

Keighran at Churchill Downs.

From America it was on to Ireland where
Keighran attended trackwork at The
Curragh, meeting leading trainer John
Oxx and watching Dermot Weld’s string
gallop.

And it was one of Weld’s team that she
was to see win later that week, the topclass
stayer Vinnie Roe taking out the
Listed Saval Beg Stakes at
Leopardstown by four lengths.

“Someone told Dermot Weld that I was
from Australia and he said to me ‘don’t
you go home and tell Jim Bowler about
this!’”

A visit to Coolmore was a highlight for
Keighran (“I was just blown away by the
place”) who was thrilled to be
photographed with two legends of the
breeding world — Sadler’s Wells and
Danehill.

Rounding off her fellowship trip was a
week in England where Keighran
attended several racemeetings including
perhaps the world’s most famous — the
Epsom Derby, won this year by High
Chaparral.

“It was a real thrill to see a son of
Sadler’s Wells win just a week after
seeing him,” she said. Also a thrill,
walking the Epsom track on the morning
of the Derby!

Staying at the Jockey Club rooms at
racing’s headquarters was yet another
buzz for Keighran who, after a guided
tour of the town’s world famous gallops,
declared herself “ in love with
Newmarket.”

Winding down after six weeks of “nonstop
racing,” Keighran enjoyed a twoweek
Contiki trip of Europe (Italy,

Germany, Austria and France) before
heading back to Melbourne where a
pleasant surprise awaited.

“I was granted an early end to my
cadetship,” she said, “and was promoted to the position of Assistant Steward.”

Having loved “every minute” of her
overseas trip, Keighran is keen to travel
again — already planning a trip to
Africa next year. Meanwhile she is
enjoying the challenges of her job
although she does wish she had more
time for the horses themselves.

“I really miss the hands-on part,” she
said, adding that training horses is
something she’d like to try when she
retires. “That is a long time away,” she
said, “but I love horses — they are the
reason I love what I do.”