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Lindop Stakes feeling will only get better, says Clare

Don’t expect Clare Lindop’s glow over having a race named in her honour to subside anytime soon.

The former champion jockey will be trackside on Saturday for the running of the Clare Lindop Stakes at Morphettville and while the race’s inaugural renewal will be special, she feels her appreciation of the gesture’s significance will grow in the years ahead.

“When the Lindop Stakes becomes a more regular part of the racing scene, it’ll be kind of cool,” she said.

“In 20 years’ time, maybe it will roll off the tongue.

“At the moment people say ‘Are you running in the Goodwood?’ so I hope people will eventually say ‘Are you running in the Lindop?’ even though obviously it’s not a Group 1.

“I think that familiarity will be really nice. I guess you could say its meaning will become more prevalent in the fullness of time.”

Clare also feels the 1600m Listed race for three-year-old fillies – formerly known as the Laelia Stakes – will ensure her legacy is remembered for decades.

“Well, this is the first one and it’s been a bit of fun, having people ribbing me because I’ve got a race named after me,” she said.

“But in years to come when people don’t know who I was, someone might say ‘Oh yeah, she was a jockey’.”

Clare was in fact a multiple-premiership-winning jockey, who rode scores of black type winners, and famously became the first female to win the VRC Derby, saluting aboard Rebel Raider for Adelaide trainer Leon Macdonald in 2008. Five years earlier she was also the first Australian female to ride in the Melbourne Cup.

Clare said the having her eponymous race as a fillies event was particularly apt.

“Obviously having any race named after you is an honour and a privilege, because it doesn’t happen very often,” she said.

“It’s a race over mile at Morphettville, which was my favourite track and distance to ride at, and the fact it’s a fillies race is a beautiful touch.

“For me to be there on the day – and hopefully I can make it every year for as long as I can – will be lovely.

“It’s nice to have an established race in the program to look forward to every year.”

Lindop won the Laelia Stakes in 2009 aboard Impressive Eagle, also for Leon Macdonald.

Meanwhile Clare has encouraged her fans to purchase one of her Clare Bear T-shirts (www.fanfave.com.au/collections/clare-lindop) for a good cause.

For every shirt sold during March, $10 goes to Clare’s charity of choice, Lincoln Park Horse and Human Rehabilitation Centre at Monarto.

She said having a race named in her honour would help keep her name “out there”, which in turn aids her charitable pursuits.

“This is an opportunity for me to keep involved in racing – and keeping my name out there gives me a chance to give back to the community,” she said.

“And I love to do that with different charities I work with.”

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