A flood of unashamed emotion will come for Holly Watson if she become WA’s first Group 1-winning female jockey by piloting Comfort Me to victory in the $1.5 million Swan Draught Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot on Saturday.
Watson said she would not be able to contain herself if she won the coveted prize with her favourite warhorse, who has remarkably finished second in the race three times. She had no doubt the Rhys Radford-trained Comfort Me, now nine years old and a $26 chance with TABtouch for the Railway, could upset a star-studded field and go one better.
The pair got a late split to finish a close runner-up in last year's race behind Port Lockroy.
"He doesn't know he's nine years old … he is an absolute beauty," a gushing Watson said.
"He's just been so consistent every time in these big races and you can't obviously dismiss that. So, I think he's definitely up to it.
"This is the best prep we've had since I've been riding him."
Watson only started her relationship with Comfort Me early in 2024 and beat Railway rivals Super Smink and Magnificent Andy to win the $200,000 Group 3 Eurythmic Stakes (1400m) in October last year.
Her partner, Ascot trainer Mitch Pateman, had previously ridden the gelding for two wins during his stint as a jockey and helped Watson secure the ride on the ageing champ, who has won more than $1.7 million in prizemoney.
Watson's Eurythmic win on Comfort Me came nearly three years after his previous victory, when Pateman was still in the saddle. But she had grown a close affinity with the horse and predicted emotional scenes if they could steal a Railway win and claim her place in history as the first female WA rider to win a Group 1 race.
"Wow … it would be a massive, massive thrill," she said.
"I was even just so thrilled that I ran second last year that I nearly cried. If he could win, I think I'd just burst out in tears and if he could go out with a bang, it would be just unreal."
Fellow female riders Lucy Fiore (Admiration Express) and Tash Faithful (Let's Galahvant) will also be shooting for Group 1 glory in the Railway.
Watson said she will rue the day she can no longer ride Comfort Me, who she described as a horse with "perfect" character. She said every time the pair went to trackwork or out to race, she even allowed him the chance to stop and stare at the city in the background.
"He is an amazing horse and every time he goes out, he tries so hard and you just know he's going to give his 100 per cent every time," she said.
"Everyone loves following him in a race because he's always going to take you into it. I really love him to bits and I look forward to riding him every day I can.
"He's just the coolest dude that ever was. He's so cool, calm and collected and presents himself so well all the time and his demeanour is just perfect.
"He's an absolute marvel and I'm going to be really sad when he retires because you just don't get many of these horses along the way. But he's given me a ride in another Group 1 this year, so I couldn't ask for much more – I'm very blessed."
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