‘It’s exciting’: Star country apprentice primed for metropolitan debut

2 months ago 23

By Craig Kerry

January 15, 2026 — 6.00pm

Leading country apprentice Jett Newman is excited for “a little taste” of what’s to come when she heads to Rosehill on Saturday for two live chances for boss Matt Dunn.

Newman, the daughter of former Sydney jockey Mitch Newman, has been race riding for less than a year and just turned 18, but she has already racked up 77 winners in the country at a strike rate of 15 per cent. That includes 34 on the NSW country circuit this season, the most of any apprentice.

She is yet to venture into the metropolitan ranks but was keen to take the opportunities with Considered and Band Of Brothers, which drew gate one on Saturday in the Highway Handicap and the 1300m benchmark 88 respectively.

“It’s exciting,” Newman said.

“Matt had these two coming down and he asked his racing manager, who is also my manager, to look for a claimer and Drew [Smith] was like, ‘Why don’t you send Jett down?’.

“So it’s exciting to get a little taste of what it’s like.”

Newman, though, is no stranger to Sydney racing.

She grew up in Hawkesbury dreaming of becoming a jockey while watching her father work as a trainer and her mother, Debbie Greaves, as a track-work rider.

“It’s obviously been my whole world and I’ve always wanted to be a jockey,” she said.

“That was my aim as soon as I was old enough to leave school and start.”

After showjumping and pony racing in her junior days, she left school at the start of Year 10 and learned the race riding ropes with Hawkesbury team Claire and Chad Lever. That included stints one-day a week riding track-work with the powerhouse Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable, then Bjorn Baker, in town.

Jett Newman winning on Runaway Tycoon at the Gold Coast.

She moved to Dunn’s Murwillumbah stable to start her career and won with her first ride, Without Parallel, at her new home track on February 2. Twelve days later, she racked up four winners on a Ballina program, a remarkable feat for a four-kilogram claimer.

From there, Newman has quickly gained support from stables in NSW and southern Queensland, including Sydney’s premier trainer Chris Waller.

“It was probably the best move I made,” she said of linking with Dunn, who leads the NSW country premiership.

“Matt has been amazing and he’s got heaps of runners, heaps of country horses.

“My dad was always like, you need to move to the country to start, and he had a friend who had a contact with Matt and he thought Matt’s stable would be good.

“We came up for a trial day and then decided it was the move to make.

“I’m very happy. I didn’t expect it to go this good. I have three winners until my [country] claim is gone, which is exciting. It’s been a good year.”

The next major step will be a move back to Sydney, where she hopes to carve out a place at the elite level.

“The plan is to move to Sydney eventually, but I do want to have a provincial claim when I come down,” she said.

“I’ve started riding provincials now, so we’ll see how I go there and weigh up a decision on when I start down there. We haven’t really spoken to any trainers yet.

“It definitely won’t be easy, but we’ll put in the hard work and hopefully succeed.”

She hopes to make an immediate impact on Saturday, when Considered ($4.80) has her first crack at Highway grade. The four-year-old So You Think mare, which came to Dunn from Tamworth trainer Cody Morgan, has won her past three starts, including her first-up debut for the stable at Lismore in a class 3 over 1110m. She tackles a 1400m class 3 Highway on Saturday with just 53 kilograms.

“It’s her first prep with Matt, but she won really well first-up and she’s won up to 1400,” Newman said.

“She comes into it great at the weights, has drawn well and I think she’s definitely got a really good chance.

“I don’t ride it in track-work, but she’s been working well. She’s only small, but she’s got some speed.”

Band Of Brothers was a $3.70 favourite after a win and four placings in his five runs for Dunn this preparation, since coming from Flemington trainer Dominic Sutton. The form includes a close second to Tuned in the $300,000 Gateway (1400m) at Eagle Farm two starts back.

“He’s been a bit unlucky with some bad gates and just not getting there, but he’s been running super honest, and I think we come in really well at the weights and are definitely in the mix,” Newman said.

She was also down to ride Pretty Tavi for Jack Pilkington in the Midway Handicap but she could race at Canterbury on Friday night.