Jenny Duggan wanted her return to race riding to be as low key as possible. After all she’d been off the scene for more than a year and knew her fitness and racecraft would need some fine tuning. She may have waited another few weeks had it not been for an invitation from Tony Newing. The Gosford trainer had accepted with two horses for the opening day of the Grafton winter carnival and persuaded Jenny to ride both. “It felt as though I’d never been away,” said the Swedish born jockey. “It’s a funny thing in a race everything seems so quiet. All you can do is think about the horse you’re riding.”
She certainly looked as though she’d never been away as she calmly cruised over from a wide barrier to position Deep Thrillz outside the leader in the 1770m Maiden. The filly didn’t handle the trip and weakened to 7th, but Jenny’s job had been done. A few races later she navigated In Fiore to the spot outside the leader before hitting the front for a few strides in the straight. In Fiore just missed a place, but the smile on his jockey’s face was a dead giveaway. Jenny was back doing what she loves best.
Despite a marathon trip back to the Central Coast and a minimum of sleep, she turned up the very next day to honour two commitments at Taree. Waterside ($101) and Eerised ($91.00) both finished well back but Jenny was well satisfied. Another unplaced ride followed on the Friday at Muswellbrook, but her fortunes were about to change.
A win on Uate under the lights at Canterbury for Kris Lees and Australian Bloodstock 2012 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
A Heavy 10 track greeted participants at the Port Macquarie meeting twenty four hours later but Jenny cared little. She was rapidly getting back into the swing of it, and had a book of four rides, three of them under double figures. The moment she’d been craving for more than a year, came in the opening race on the Joel and Wayne Wilkes trained Justaway. The gelding overraced noticeably in the early stages, but Jenny had him travelling generously by the time they reached the 800m. She found the right lane wide out in the straight and coaxed Justaway to a narrow win. Few realised it was one of the most significant wins of her career.
Later in the programme she was at it again. Jenny quickly had Pluckercarn with the leaders in a 1000m Maiden, before finding the right going to win in a close finish from Shootforthestar. The winner is trained by Marc Quinn who gave her a job a year after she arrived in Australia.
Fast forward to the Taree meeting on July 16th where jockey Duggan was again in the winner’s circle on the Gosford trained Pleading - one of her six rides on the day. This Star Witness filly produced one of the best country wins of the month, in storming home to win a 1000m Class 3. Pleading is trained by Jenny’s great friend and long time supporter Angela Davies.
Jenny brought Pleading with a barnstorming run to win a Taree on 16/07/2021 for Angela Davies - Trackside Photography.
The jockey’s horrific fall on Scone Cup day last year left her with a devastating list of injuries. The accident occurred in the final race on a day when Jenny had a book of six rides even though several leading Sydney jockeys were in attendance. She was thrilled to have finished just behind the placegetters in the Scone Cup on the Chris Waller trained Black On Gold.
Her mount in the 1400m Class 2 was the Snitzel mare Steamboat Sally for the Cody Morgan stable. After racing on the pace throughout, the mare was feeling the pinch in the straight when the horse directly to her outside ducked in without warning. Steamboat Sally was unable to avoid its heels and went down in a flash. Robert Thompson’s mount Tomlolo blundered over the fallen horse and crashed heavily, giving the veteran jockey a tumble he could have done without.
Thankfully Robert walked away uninjured, while the hapless Duggan was being prepared for a mercy dash to John Hunter Hospital at Newcastle. “I regained consciousness in the Westpac Rescue Helicopter and had no idea what was happening,” recalled Jenny. “I just knew I was pretty badly hurt and thankful to be in the care of the experts.”
A few days later her worst fears were realised. The most worrying injury was a fracture of the occipital condyle - the bone at the base of the neck which articulates with the first cervical vertebrae and controls head movements in all directions. Add a skull fracture, a broken nose, a fracture to the right shoulder blade, damage to the left AC joint, heel and wrist damage, plus three bleeds to the brain and you’ve got one pretty battered jockey.
Tough as teak Jenny was discharged from hospital after seven days and returned home to begin a long, tedious and painful rehabilitation. Her first eight weeks were spent in an uncomfortable and cumbersome neck brace. The love and support of family was by far the most beneficial therapy.
“My amazing husband Ben was a tower of strength all the way through,” said Jenny. “Never once did he try to influence my thinking on a possible comeback and was completely understanding when I announced my intention to ride in races again. The kids have been equally supportive. Once they got over the initial shock they embraced my daily routine, and never stopped trying to help me. Max (6), Sebastian (4) and my step daughter Maddy (13) all pitched in to assist Mum’s recovery.”
Happier days! Jenny and Marc Quinn combined to win this TAB Highway with Gumshoe 22/06/2019 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
The Jenny Duggan story is well documented. She fell in love with horses on the family farm at Figeholm near Stockholm on the Baltic coast. With trotting the dominant horse sport in Sweden, there are few opportunities for young enthusiasts to find work in thoroughbred stables. At age 21 Jenny Lindgren found her way to NZ and was lucky enough to land a job with high profile trainer Murray Baker at Cambridge in the Waikato district. The fact that Mrs. Murray Baker was of Swedish origin helped Jenny to combat homesickness.
After six months she returned to Sweden unsure of her next move. When her friend Emma Hansson started to talk of her impending trip to Australia, Jenny had her bag packed before Emma finished the sentence. Just weeks after arriving in Sydney, Jenny was riding trackwork at Warwick Farm for Oliver Koolman, Steve Englebrecht and Bill Prain. After 12 months in the urban crush she opted for a sea change and was lucky enough to find a position with Port Macquarie trainer Marc Quinn.
By this time Jenny had begun a relationship with amateur jockey Ben Duggan who joined her in Port Macquarie. Ben had recognized tremendous improvement in her riding technique and encouraged her to test the water as a registered amateur rider. Before long Ms J. Lindgren was booting home winners on remote bush tracks and showing great natural talent. Such was her progress that in the 2009/2010 season she became the first female to win a NSW Amateur Jockeys premiership.
Paltry amateur riding fees prompted Jenny and Ben to arrange a special meeting with Racing NSW officials. During the course of that meeting one of the Racing NSW staff suggested she should entertain the idea of turning professional. “I think I was slightly offended initially but started to give the idea some serious thought over the next few days,” recalled the jockey. “I’m also pleased to say our request eventually led to a respectable increase in the amateur riding fee.”
A strict diet and an intensive treadmill routine saw Jenny’s weight tumble in a fairly short time. Ben’s brother, Gosford trainer Adam Duggan signed her up as an apprentice, and the stage was set for her professional debut. She and Ben had been married around two years when she rode for the first time as Jenny Duggan. A filly called Kapcat gave her an unforgettable first up win in a Class 2 event at Port Macquarie on Feb 12th 2012. “It was beyond my wildest dreams to win at my first professional ride,” said Jenny. “I’ll be forever grateful to trainer Adam Dable for the opportunity.”
Jenny made it a Rosehill double on River Bird 29/06/2019. Runner up is Traumatised with Tim Clark - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Injuries and motherhood have kept the popular jockey off the scene for close to half of the last nine years. Just eighteen months after beginning her professional career, Jenny suffered a nasty knee injury in a somewhat freakish fall at Newcastle - a complete knee reconstruction sidelined her for close to a year. She was barely back riding work again when she discovered she was pregnant with her eldest son Max.
In the spring of 2016 she returned to trackwork, only to learn that she was pregnant for the second time. Again she had to put racing on the backburner until Sebastian’s arrival and subsequent maternal duties.
At first she considered abandoning thoughts of race riding and concentrating on full time trackwork as a means of supplementing the family income. It wasn’t long before her fitness levels improved, her weight stabilised and the lure of the racetrack beckoned.
Unsaddling after one of her five wins on the Bjorn Baker trained Cantonese 2012 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Her darkest days have been counterbalanced by some wonderful highs as one of Australia’s most senior apprentice jockeys. Now approaching 43 years of age, Jenny can look back on a thrilling win in the 2018/2019 Rising Stars Apprentice Jockeys series and a healthy win rate on NSW tracks. She rates Cantonese as her favourite horse, having won five races on the Bjorn Baker trained gelding - two at Hawkesbury and three in the city. A Warwick Farm treble and a Rosehill Saturday double are among her most treasured memories.
Thanks to Facebook, Jenny’s parents are able to monitor her progress as a professional jockey. Ben Duggan faithfully emails video replays of his wife’s rides to her parents Tony and Lisa Lindgren at Figeholm in Sweden. “They were devastated when Covid stopped them from getting to Sydney following my accident,” said Jenny. “It was a tough time for all of us.”
For now Jenny is looking no further ahead than six months when her apprenticeship concludes. Her country and provincial claims are long gone, but she still has a handy 2kg claim in the city. She’s hoping a flurry of outside winners might bring her to the notice of Sydney trainers who’ve used her services previously.
What a life changing moment it was when Jenny’s Swedish friend told her of an exciting trip to faraway Australia. Little did she realise that almost twenty years on she would have established successful riding careers in both the amateur and professional ranks, met and married an Aussie horseman who would become the father of her two children and provide her with a step daughter who is amongst her most cherished friends.
Life has panned out pretty well for the little Swedish girl whose parents had to drag her off the pony when dinner time rolled around.
There's not a jockey on the planet who wouldn't be pleased with a photo like this. Jenny is poetry in motion as she wins on Seababe at Canterbury 15/02/2019 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
(Banner image - The first leg of a Rosehill double for Jenny Duggan on the Richard Laming trained He Ekscels 29/06/2019 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.)