Leading jockey Jamie Kah has reflected on the AirBnB drama that saw her miss the entire Melbourne Spring Carnival - and she believes she is a better place now because of it.
Kah was involved in a COVID-19 breach back in August alongside five other jockeys, after they were caught partying in Mornington during a state lockdown.
The incident saw the jockeys banned for three months, missing out on Victoria's busiest period of the year including the Melbourne Cup.
Since returning, Kah has found her "happy place" again and admits she had to learn from her mistake.
“I definitely don’t take anything for granted anymore. It’s not that I took it for granted but you just think it’s never going to end,” Kah said on a recent episode of The Howie Games podcast.
“I probably was a bit selfish, people were going through such a hard time and I made a mistake and I’ve had to learn from it.
“It’s been a tough thing that’s happened, but it’s also probably been one of the better things that has happened in my life.
“I’m enjoying (being back riding now), I’m in a happy place and I want to be the best I can be.
“I haven’t really been in the right place to speak about it until recently and it’s good I’ve got it off my chest.
“Hopefully people can understand my side of the story and what I was going through, I know a lot people were angry about it, and I understand that too.”
Kah is regarded as one of the country's best riders, with over 1000 wins and 6 Group 1 triumphs in her career - and she's still got plenty of big races ahead of her.
The 26-year-old revealed the backlash from her COVID breach forced her to mature quickly, before making her return to riding in December.
“I had to choose whether I let this get to me or I don’t,” Kah said.
“The worst thing was what my parents and my family was getting sent to them and getting told about me. A few phone calls to mum was just tears, nothing else coming out.
“I don’t want people to feel sorry for me. I made a mistake. I just felt sick for my family, really.
“The media, they build you up for all the success you have and they’re straight there to bring you back down.
“I felt like I let all the trainers down that had booked me, let myself down, the owners. I obviously was going to miss out on a lot but I felt like I was letting a lot of people down. The first weekend I had to get off my rides, a horse won a Group 1.
“I thought I matured a lot the last five years being a jockey, but this is something else. It makes you grow up, appreciate life, appreciate the people around you. My circle is a lot smaller now.
“You can’t try and be friends with everyone. You can’t make everyone like you. That’s lifted a weight off my shoulders.”
Last weekend, Kah rode the victorious Zaaki in the $5 million All-Star Mile, but will head to Sydney this weekend as she is booked to ride Honeycreeper in the G1 Vinery Stud Stakes this Saturday at Rosehill Gardens.
