Stellar season nets provincial title for Albany hoop, Albany trainer Steve Wolfe fourth in WA for most wins

Albany’s Natasha Faithfull has finished a brilliant 2022-23 season as the most successful provincial jockey in WA. The 2022-23 racing season wrapped up on Monday and Faithfull finish at the top of the provincial jockeys’ premiership. Faithfull finished with 73 provincial victories to defeat champion WA hoop William Pike (64 wins) and talented young rider Brayden Gaerth (62). The 29-year-old had a winning strike rate of 14.5 per cent and won more than $1.5 million in prize money at provincial venues. Her highlight in the saddle over the past year was claiming her first Albany Cup in April aboard local galloper Said No One Ever. She also won the Great Southern Leading Senior Rider award for the second straight season after scoring 18 victories across the Albany and Mt Barker venues. Faithfull went narrowly close to breaking the 100-win mark for the second straight season, her effort of 98 wins in total just marginally short of the 103 wins she had in 2021-22. Across all racing in WA, Faithfull finished with the fifth most wins of any jockey, her 103 wins putting her behind only Pike (165), Chris Parnham (116.5), Clint Johnston-Porter (103.5) and Brad Parnham (100.5). Pike easily won the city jockeys’ premiership with 101 wins from Parnham brothers Brad (71) and Chris (63). Meanwhile Albany trainer Steve Wolfe enjoyed a record breaking season, with 72.5 wins and more than $3.5m in prize money and Westspeed bonuses. The veteran horseman remarkably finished fourth overall for most wins in WA and placed fifth in the city trainers premiership despite being based in Albany. Only Adam Durrant (104), Neville Parnham (88) and Dan and Ben Pearce (87) had more success in WA this season. Wolfe had 33 city winners to be in the company of leading metro stables for the 2022-23 season. Neville Parnham claimed the city trainers title with 59 winners, ahead of Simon Miller (46), Durrant (43), Dan Morton (39) and Wolfe. Albany trainer Roy Rogers was ninth in the overall WA standings with 47 wins and he placed fourth in the provincial standings, where 40 of those victories came from. Durrant was the leading provincial trainer with 60 wins to finish ahead of the Pearce team (56), Peter Fernie (42), Rogers (40) and Wolfe (39.5). The new racing season began at Belmont Park on Wednesday.