‘She’ll be kicking him home for us’: Buchanan eyeing fairytale win to honour tragic jockey

2 months ago 16

By Craig Kerry

January 8, 2026 — 1.11pm

Local trainer Kristen Buchanan had hoped to have apprentice Bronte Simpson back aboard her favourite horse, Stylebender, at Wyong’s biggest race day on Saturday.

Now, a devastated Buchanan is sure Simpson will be “kicking him home for us” in the race named in honour of the former Wyong-based rider, who died in a car crash on December 22.

Apprentice Bronte Simpson and trainer Kristen Buchanan after Stylebender gave Simpson her first winner, at Muswellbrook in May 2025.

The Ballarat-raised 24-year-old, who moved north to join Tamworth trainer Jane Clement this season, was driving alone when her vehicle hit a tree at Mendooran, north-west of Dubbo.

The tragedy rocked the racing community, especially at Wyong, where Simpson started her riding career under Sara Ryan and with the support of other trainers like Buchanan.

Simpson’s first win came on Stylebender at Muswellbrook on May last year and she later took him to victory at Kembla. She won too on Justice Warrior for Buchanan, who has that horse also running on Saturday.

Stylebender ($126 TAB) will be a long-shot in the Bronte Simpson Memorial Midway Handicap (1600m), but Buchanan was glad he was in the race named after “such a lovely girl.”

Bronte Simpson on Stylebender after their win at Muswellbrook.

“Her favourite horse is running in it, which is sad ... there’s mixed emotions,” Buchanan said. “We are bloody devastated about Bronte, but I’d love to honour her and be in that race.

“We are all still trying to wrap our heads around it all, but Stylebender was her first winner and her first provincial winner, and we were getting him ready for her to ride again.

“With her service being in Victoria, a lot of us won’t get to honour her that way, so I was just really glad her race was the Midway and it’s even more fitting that Stylebender is in it.

“He was always going to this race and I had hopes I would have Bronte riding him, so I’m sure she’ll be kicking him home for us.”

A memorial for Simpson will be held on Monday at Woady Yaloak Equestrian Centre in Victoria. A celebration of her life will be held in NSW at a later date.

Buchanan had encouraged Simpson to move to the country to use her three-kilogram claim before returning to the provincials.

“She was apprenticed to Sara, but she always came and rode three or four for me in the morning, and she was just such a lovely girl,” she said.

“She was a great little horsewoman, and she was a very gentle and very kind young lady. You didn’t hear much out of her, but she was always happy on a horse.

“She was such a good kid, and she could really ride. I had a lot of faith in her in the long run. It just reminds you that you just never know when you are not going to see someone again. It’s just terrible.”

Three-kilogram apprentice Shannen Llewellyn, who was with Clement before moving to Newcastle trainer Nathan Doyle, will ride Stylebender and Justice Warrior.

Buchanan said race fitness would be a factor for Stylebender.

“There are horses in the race that have been racing around that distance for a number of starts, and we are first-up, but he goes good fresh and his trials have been good,” she said. “He’s the toughest, gutsiest little horse and you’ve just got to rider him like that.”

Justice Warrior was a $19 chance in the seventh, a 1300m benchmark 72.

“Bronte won his maiden for me at Tamworth, so he runs on the day as well, which is quite fitting,” she said. “He won well last start, and whilst it is a big step up, if you look at the form around his maidens, it’s so strong.

“I had him in at Canterbury in a 1550m, but there was a lot of pressure in that race and when I heard they were putting on a memorial for Bronte, I thought I’ll throw a couple of her favourite horses in.”