Kristen Buchanan to honour late jockey Bronte Simpson with Stylebender run

“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.

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“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.”