Young Albany apprentice jockey Mackenzie Wallrodt ready for the challenge after her family racing connection

New Albany apprentice jockey Mackenzie Wallrodt believed becoming a race rider was inevitable after spending most of her life surrounded by her family’s horses. The 18-year-old’s family is entrenched in WA thoroughbred racing, her mother Rebecca Bayliss a successful trainer based in Albany and now the young Wallrodt is ready to extend that legacy even further by becoming a first-year apprentice jockey. She was officially granted her apprentice license on Monday. Having spent her earlier years being a strapper and stable hand for her mum, Wallrodt said she always had the ambition to take that giant step into racing. “I was eight when I said I wanted to be a jockey so it’s a pretty big deal,” she said. “I just grew up around horses with my mum working for another trainer, and then she got a trainer’s license. “I’ve always ridden show jumping, and then mum let me start riding the racehorses.” The ambitious teenager started her apprenticeship a year later than originally scheduled due to a serious leg injury from a nasty fall. Despite the injury scare, the aspiring young hoop believed this delay was the best thing for her development in the sport. “I had a fall in May last year and I did the ligaments in my leg when I applied for the apprenticeship, so I didn’t get it,” she said. “I’m not really scared of falling, whatever’s going to happen will happen. “Obviously you’re going to be careful because you don’t want to get hurt but accidents do happen.” While the first-year apprentice, who is indentured to her mother, won’t race competitively this season, she said one day saluting on her mother’s horses would be a dream come true. “It would mean everything. My mum’s probably my biggest supporter, she’s supported everything I’ve wanted to do,” Wallrodt said. “She’s sent me to Bunbury for more experience, she’s let me go to Perth every couple of weeks for the classes that we had and she’s really made it all work. “I’ve got the support and I’ve got everyone behind me so it’s great.” Wallrodt is hoping to base herself in Bunbury under the tutelage of Michael Lane where she must successfully pass 30 barrier trails before she is eligible to ride in races. While insisting she will soak up the experience of her four-year apprenticeship, the tenacious Wallrodt has ambitions to race in the nation’s biggest races. “I’ll hopefully be based in Bunbury. I went and did a bit of work for Michael Lane, who has supported me heaps, so I hope to keep going there and move there soon,” she said. “It’s just getting as much experience as I can while I’ve got the opportunities. Once you start race riding, it’s pretty into it. “I’ve always looked up to Damian Lane, because of how he moved out so young, and then went over to Melbourne. “I want to go as far as I can. . . I’ve always wanted to go over to Melbourne.”