Tatum Bull. (Image: Racing Photos)
Tatum Bull is slowly coming around to the Moonee Valley circuit and glad she is as she envisages becoming very familiar with the track in the next few months.
When Bull won her first race at the track on December 1 on Lloyd’s Crown the first thing she said to Racing.com’s Jason Richardson was “I hate the track”.
When she won again on December 8 on Makusha she told Lizzie Jelfs that she was learning to love the track.
“I don’t normally have any luck there, but it’s been nice to get some momentum finally after a fair few placings there,” Bull said.
“It’s nice to have winners there as Moonee Valley is a track where apprentices get their opportunities. I haven’t been on the right horses and in the right races. I’m learning to love it.”
Bull went to Ballarat on Saturday for one ride which was Rosalia, but she was a late scratching after she was dislodged from her.
“It’s okay. It’s my bad foot. It will be okay but it’s a bit swollen. I’ll see how it is tomorrow,” she said.
Bull said it had been hard to gain momentum coming back during the competitive springtime after being sidelined for 10 months with a foot injury.
“Now is a good time for apprentices to shine with the big boys taking breaks,” she said.
Bull rides trackwork every day for Clayton Douglas and rides fast work for Peter Moody.
The up-and-coming jockey, who can ride at 50 kilograms, has a year to go of her apprenticeship and said under the new rules regarding apprentices, she now had a two-kilogram claim in the provincial area.
Bull and her partner fellow jockey Daniel Stackhouse have set up an agistment farm at Somerville.
“It’s great for us,” she said. “We have a good work-life balance doing the agistment with 15 horses on our property.
“It gives us an out. We can go out and give them a pat. Riding can be a bit of a grind, but it can make you love the horses again. It’s a happy medium, as you can have a bad day at the races and you come home to these horses.
“It’s great for Dan and his weight. He can do things around the farm such as fencing and mowing. It’s also great for his mental state.”
Bull also has her own pleasure horse in an Off The Track horse, Till It’s Over, who she rides.
Last year, while Bull was injured, Stackhouse rode her in a showjumping event and won a ribbon. Bull intends to again take Till It’s Over showjumping next month for a bit of fun.