Sonja Wiseman stars in Northern Territory landing five winners
Sonja Wiseman missed the start of last season in the Northern Territory due to injury, but the Darwin-based jockey is firing at the start of the 2022/23 season.
The 30-year-old booted home a treble at Fannie Bay in the Top End on Saturday before landing a double at Pioneer Park in Alice Springs on Sunday.
After eight meetings in the Top End and Country premiership – seven in Darwin and one in Katherine – Wiseman (9) trails Jarrod Todd (11), the champion rider for the past three years.
It’s a different story in the Red Centre with Wiseman (11) leading the way in the Alice Springs and Provincial premiership after seven meetings at Pioneer Park from Jessie Philpot (7).
Currently, Wiseman (20) is the leading rider in the NT with 20 winners followed by Todd, who has yet to ride in Alice Springs this season.
Wiseman rode 49 winners last season – 29 in the Top End and 20 in the Red Centre – to finish second behind Stan Tsaikos (53), who rode 18 winners in the north and 35 winners in the south.
Darwin-based Tsaikos has won the Alice Springs and Provincial jockey’s premiership for the past two years.
Based on current form Wiseman might push Todd in the race for the Top End and Country jockey’s premiership and thus become the second female jockey to win the title after Simone Montgomerie achieved the feat during the 2012/13 season.
She’s also in good shape to win her first Alice Springs and Provincial jockey’s premiership and end the 2022/23 season with the most wins in the NT.
After being involved in a three-horse fall in July last year during the Darwin Cup Carnival, Wiseman was sidelined until Melbourne Cup Day when her ailment was diagnosed as a traumatic brain injury.
Wiseman partnered Fromthenevernever, trained by her partner Tom Logan, to victory in her first comeback race at Darwin on the first Tuesday in November.
Despite missing the first three months of the 2021/22 season, Wiseman had what many would consider as a successful campaign.
During the Alice Springs Cup Carnival she rode four winners on April 23 (Day 3) and repeated the dose during the Darwin Cup Carnival on July 13 (Day 3).
Wiseman was more than pleased she had the opportunity to start the 2022/23 season in August.
Although it was three wins for Wiseman at Darwin on Saturday, it was also a big day for Logan as it was the first time he had trained a winning double.
He may have won by a whisker in the first of six races, but five-year-old gelding Freddy The Eagle ($3.70) made it two wins from as many starts at Fannie Bay when he won over 1300m (0-64).
In the next race, Blueberry Boy ($3.80) could not have been more impressive in a comfortable win over 1200m (0-70) – it was back to back wins for the five-year-old gelding and made it three wins and two seconds in five Darwin starts.
For Wiseman, she gave the leaders a fair start in the home straight before five-year-old Bat Pad ($1.60 fav) hit top gear to make it back to back wins for trainer Mark Nyhan over 1000m (Class 2).
The next day in Alice Springs, Wiseman produced two super rides with her mounts leading from the outset before claiming victory.
Mackinaw ($4), a five-year-old gelding, won his first race in the Red Centre for trainer Will Savage by five lengths over 1100m (BM54), while Roughly ($1.75 fav with Palmerbet), the amazing 10-year-old mare, won her first race over 1600m carrying 62.5kg for trainer Leah Walling-Denton in open company.
Thoroughbred Racing Northern Territory chief executive officer Andrew O’Toole can only marvel at Wiseman’s success.
“She’s going well, riding well and is in great form,” he said.
“Sonja is a confident rider, but getting on the right horses helps.
“She is a pretty patient rider as well.
“Happy to sit back and a lot of the time she’ll come along the inside, she won’t go around the world in 80 days and reads the play pretty well.
“Always keen to go to Alice Springs and ride – she seldom misses a meeting at Pioneer Park.
“It was hard not to admire her success on the weekend, Sonja is definitely in form.
“It was hard to fault her rides on Freddy The Eagle, Blueberry Boy, Mackinaw and Roughly.
“Bat Pad, back from the 1200m to the 1000m was always going to be the question, but they went pretty hard and she’s got home over the top of them.
“Sonja gets rides here in Darwin for most of the leading stables – obviously Tom Logan aside, she rides for Tayarn Halter, Mark Nyhan and Gary Clarke, and had success riding for Nicole Irwin during the Darwin Cup Carnival.
“She’s also had a good association with Lisa Whittle, Will Savage and Jess Gleeson in Alice.
“She gets some decent rides and she can ride light.”