Jenny Chapman reveals former double life: trackwork jockey by day, disc jockey by night

Hong Kong racing fans all around the world know Jenny Chapman as Jenny from the Paddock, the parade ring analyst who runs her eye over every runner at Happy Valley and Sha Tin and voices her views on the Jockey Club’s English-language broadcast.

But in this week’s edition of Tongue Tie Off, a Q&A series with racing personalities connected to Hong Kong, Chapman reveals she was a Caulfield trackwork jockey by day and a Melbourne disc jockey by night before she and her husband, bloodstock agent David Price, made the city their home in the 1990s.

How did you get into racing?

My father, Kel, became a licensed trainer in 1954, ran a stable into his 80s and only retired the year before he passed away in 2012. Originally, I was brought up in Mentone when there was a racecourse there. That’s long gone now. I started riding trackwork at Mentone. I was 10 years old when my family shifted to Caulfield. I continued riding trackwork there. I rode in races from 17 to 28.

When I rode in races, they were girls only. We’d have about a dozen races a year, and we weren’t allowed to ride against the men. There weren’t many girls riding at that time.

Things began to change when Linda Jones came over from New Zealand. Linda’s trainer husband, Alan, wanted her to ride one of his top horses in Australia, so the authorities had to change their rules. That helped everyone in Australia. They had several A-grade-licensed lady jockeys in New Zealand. Basically, Australia had to follow.

Who were the most talented horses you rode?

The best horse I rode in a race was one on which I won at Moonee Valley, the venue for this weekend’s Group One Cox Plate (2,040m) featuring Romantic Warrior. His name was Lighthouse Watson.

At home, I rode Watney, who took out Group One contests in three states over three distances, and another of Dad’s stars, Gossiper, a fantastic filly who won the 1972 Australian Oaks (2,400m).

You were Victoria’s champion female jockey of the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons. Why did you stop race riding and try your hand at other jobs?

It was more a weight thing than anything else. I didn’t want to spend my life wasting to ride as light as I could – 54 kilograms [119 pounds] – especially when I love food. I love to cook.

I was lucky enough that after I won the first of my two ladies’ jockeys’ premierships, Channel Seven asked me to do some television broadcasting on its regular racing programming. I also started DJing.

I DJed with another girl called Nancy. We were Nancy and Jenny. We didn’t have a fancy stage name. That was it. Nancy and I worked at hotels, discos and nightclubs around Melbourne for a long time. Sometimes, we’d fly to Launceston on weekends and play sets at its casino. I loved the Australian bands in the 80s, the likes of AC/DC and INXS.

I was riding trackwork in the mornings, DJing in the evenings and finding time in the middle of my days to use my shorthand and typing skills to do a secretarial job for an art and antiques gallery.

How did you end up living in Hong Kong?

Originally, I thought maybe I’d like to train or have a property, farm and all that sort of stuff. But I visited Hong Kong when I was quite young – I went to the races, even though I was 16 or 17 and shouldn’t have gained admission to the track because I was underage – and fell in love with the city.

When I met David, I told him I loved Hong Kong, so we came here for a holiday. Then, we decided to move here. We’d had two young children by then. We came over to punt – to bet on racing. We had a one-year-old and a three-year-old, so I wasn’t working on Australian television as much – a little bit here and there. I got a job on the TV here, and David found work as a bloodstock agent before we established Price Bloodstock in 1997.

For what should punters look when watching horses parade?

The first thing that’ll grab your attention is their behaviour, but I think the most important thing is their walk. You get used to the horses who regularly don’t walk well, so you can forgive them if it’s normal and doesn’t affect their galloping action. But if it’s something new, it’s a concern.

Finally, who’s the best-looking horse you’ve seen?

Before I attended this year’s Dubai World Cup meeting at Meydan, I would’ve said Lord Kanaloa. But I saw Equinox in the United Arab Emirates in March, and he blew me away. The moment I laid my eyes on him, I said, “wow” because I’d never seen anything like it. He’s beautiful. He’s such an athlete. He’s got plenty of length about him. He’s the perfect racehorse.