Hannah Phillips brings up double ton in the bush

By Jordan Gerrans

Hoop Hannah Phillips lives and breathes country racing, so it was fitting for the hard-working jockey to bring up a special career milestone on the dirt at Aramac on Saturday afternoon. 

Based in the South Burnett region of the Sunshine State, Phillips has travelled as far south as Grafton, north to Cairns and out west to Birdsville across her career in the saddle.

While she is not a regular in the Central West area of Queensland, the 35-year-old has frequented the area more so this year and she has been rewarded for her efforts. 

She collected a winning double on Saturday at Aramac which brought her career win tally to 200 after debuting a touch over a decade ago. 

The smiling jockey landed her double aboard Rapids and Declassify for Longreach trainer Richard Simpson.

“I have been trying to go out west a little more often this year over winter,” Phillips said.

“I went to Richmond last week and I will be at Longreach for their Cup meeting early next month.

“I think I have ridden at around 60 tracks now so for me it is about going out and having some adventures at new tracks. I have covered a lot of kilometers (laughs).”

It could have been a massive day for the hoop on Saturday as while she rode two winners, she had three other runners finish in the money, as well. 

Phillip’s most prolific tracks across her 200 winners have been Nanango, Bundaberg, Wondai and Gladstone – so she has a great appreciation for non-TAB racing in the bush. 

She recalls bringing up her maiden ton at Dalby when she rode a winner for Toowoomba horseman Matt Kropp earlier in his career.

As many regional tracks are often trying to attract as many jockeys as possible for their annual meetings, Phillips has taken on the challenge. 

She is regularly using social media to entice fellow riders to travel far and wide for bookings. 

Her attitude in this area was underlined during her recent Richmond trip when she car-pooled with apprentice hoop Brea Harrison so they could make it to the regional town, which is based between Townsville and Mount Isa. 

“The healthier country racing is, I feel it is better for Queensland overall,” she said.

“It gives the metro and provincial horses places to go so they can extend their careers. All the bush racing is so important.

“There is a lot of benefits of country racing that flow into the city.

“I always meet owners who say they met their partner at the races or their kids went to the track and said it was the best day of the year for them.

“Places like Mount Perry where they get 3,500 people at the races, that is their local social event for the year.”

Phillips lives in the South Burnett region and regularly rides work at tracks such as Nanango and Wondai for local trainers as well as preparing her small team alongside her father Barry at their family property.

The experienced jockey suffers from a lung condition which makes her susceptible to getting pneumonia so being able to work horses later in the morning once the sun has risen in the bush is beneficial.

The victory of Rapids in the Benchmark 60 Handicap over 1000 metres was full of merit at Aramac on Saturday.

Now an eight-year-old gelding, the Simpson yard has worked feverishly to get their sprinter back to the track.

Rapids has only had two starts since July of 2023 before winning by almost four lengths on Saturday.

“That horse is an absolute credit to Richard and his team as he had nearly two years off with a tendon injury,” Phillips said.

“Coming back from a tendon, that is hard to get any horse back from.

“He is a big, gross doing horse so it is not easy to get a win out of him like that, first-up after so long.

“He felt so good doing it on Saturday, I believe he will improve and pick up a few more wins this prep.”

In the following race, a Class 6 Plate 1200 metres, Declassify won for the first time since November of 2023. 

Like his stablemate, Declassify also had a long stint away from the races before scoring under the riding of Phillips. 

“That was one of the toughest wins I have ever had, he would not lay down,” she said. 

“He was being attacked from the 350 metre mark and he just kept his head in front.”

Also at Aramac on Saturday, Matthew Gray won his third straight John Dolgner Memorial Cup aboard I Am Good At This for trainer Clinton Austin.