Deadly result for Ipswich's Ravyn Warzecha

By Jordan Gerrans

Queensland’s Ravyn Warzecha enjoyed a full circle moment when her small stable travelled a galloper to Jandowae on Saturday afternoon.

The 27-year-old cut her teeth in the industry at the regional town riding work at the local track as a teenager more than a decade ago.

Warzecha has travelled far and wide across the Sunshine State in the years since with her small band of horses, spending time in Central and North Queensland while starting gallopers at tracks such as Mackay and Rockhampton. 

Now back based in South East Queensland, the Warzecha-prepared Black 'N' Deadly scored in a Benchmark 50 Handicap over 1200 metres on Saturday at Jandowae.

The result provided the keen horsewoman her maiden victory as a trainer since taking out her licence in late 2023.

Warzecha was educated at school in Dalby while riding trackwork for trainers such as Geoffrey Schrader, Courtney Bills and Caitlin Johnstone, among others, around the Western Downs areas. 

“It was really special for it to happen there with it being my home track where I rode work every day,” Warzecha said.

“I couldn’t believe it happened there. A lot of the trainers I used to ride for were at the meeting, as well.

“That was a really nice moment to train a winner in front of those people.

“I used to ride their horses and be at the races for their winners and to turn around and get my own, it was great.”

Ridden by lightweight apprentice Jade Metcalfe, Black 'N' Deadly started as an outsider in the market from the seven alley but landed the prize by just over half a length. 

Metcalfe allowed the four-year-old mare to roll along behind the speed before presenting her at the top of the straight and Black 'N' Deadly did the rest. 

While it was a red-letter day in the racing career of Warzecha, she was not able to be at the dirt track of Jandowae Race Club as she was booked to work as a photographer at another venue. 

“It was great, but I wasn’t at the races unfortunately due to work commitments,” she said.

“I had a couple of good friends of mine in Graeme Lane and Wayne O'Connell out there, looking after the mare for me.

“I think it was probably an omen that she won because I wasn’t there.

“I always said that I would never have a winner unless I wasn’t there.

“It didn’t dampen the spirits as Graeme, Wayne and I all train from the same facility – it is a big team and family effort.

“I was stoked that they were there to celebrate it with me, even though I wasn’t there.”

Warzecha trains out of a facility at Boonah which has a track, swimming pool, stables and paddocks and will head into Ipswich a couple of times a week for her galloper's fast work. 

After riding work as a teenager, Warzecha relocated to the north of the state to work at a cattle station, while also dabbling in her passion of being a trainer. 

“When I moved away, I really missed the racehorses and thought it would be a good opportunity to get my licence,” she recalled.

“For the first year and a bit, I only had a few runners as I was trying to train a racehorse in between managing a cattle station.

“The horses liked being on the station, to give them something different – they thrived up there. I decided to move back and focus on my training a bit more.”

The victory on Saturday was Black 'N' Deadly’s seventh appearance for the Warzecha stable after previously being prepared in North Queensland by Tom Button. 

As the daughter of Dissident has now won once and been placed on two other occasions, it certainly was a smart $600 purchase for Warzecha when she landed the mare. 

“I bought her for her name, which I thought was the coolest thing ever,” she said.

“She is a really honest mare, but very quirky. We have worked through a few problems, but she is the toughest thing. She gives her all every day.

“I love her to bits and she has been the stable favourite from the start and even more so now following her victory. She is a lot of hard work, but the good horses usually are.”