Cover image courtesy of Magic Millions
The third edition of the 2026 Magic Millions Racing Women Achievement Awards will be celebrated at an awards dinner on Friday 9 January at Home of the Arts Gallery on the Gold Coast. The event kicks off a nine-day program supporting the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
“Magic Millions is proud to announce the finalists for the Racing Women Achievement Awards, supported by TAB. These awards celebrate the women who work tirelessly behind the scenes and on the front lines to ensure the success of the Australian thoroughbred industry.”
Each state winner receives a $10,000 Racing Women scholarship from TAB, and the judging panel will assess how the winner intends to use the money to “benefit their endeavours in the thoroughbred industry.”
The judging panel consists of: Katie Page-Harvey, Magic Millions co-owner and Magic Millions Racing Women founder; Zara Tindall MBE, Patron Magic Millions Racing Women; Sophie Swain, Sponsorship & Events Manager – QLD Sport & Racing, Tabcorp; Bernadette Cooper, Presenter, Sky Racing; Gai Waterhouse, Trainer & foundation Racing Women Hall of Fame winner; and Denise Martin, Syndicator and foundation Racing Women Hall of Fame winner.
NSW & ACT: Vicky Leonard & Jessica Owers
Vicky Leonard is the founder of Kick Collective and co-owner of The Thoroughbred Report. Winner of the 2018 Godolphin Flying Start Leadership Award and the 2025 Wakeful Club’s Lady In Racing, Leonard is a passionate supporter of the Thoroughbred industry.
Leonard, who has a BSc and an MBA, completed the Godolphin Flying Start program in 2011 before working for Arrowfield for seven years. Kick Collective was launched in 2018 and under this banner, the team is involved in two not-for-profit enterprises. Kick Up leads the way in refuting myths about racing and educating people about the realities of horse welfare in the racing industry, while National Thoroughbred Week is an events program giving the general public a chance to visit a racing stable or stud farm to see horses up close and in person.
Vicky Leonard and Jessica Owens | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Jessica Owers is an award winner author whose latest book, Magic Millions: The Rise, Fall and Extraordinary Rise of an Iconic Australian Company, released in October 2025. A dual recipient of the Bill Whittaker Award for Best Australian Racing Book, Owers has been a freelance racing journalist for over 20 years, being published by most of the major racing publications.
Owers has a BSc. Environmental Science & Media, and began her career as a racing writer and editor for Breeding & Racing magazine. A freelance writer since 2011, she has three non-fiction books about racing; the aforementioned history of Magic Millions, Peter Pan: The Forgotten Story of Phar Lap’s Successor, and Shannon.
QLD: Lisa Coffey & Angela Jones
Lisa Coffey is the founder of Racing Hearts, a business specialising in Equine Assisted Therapy. Coffey trained in counselling while in her native Ireland, but a love of horses and warm weather saw her take an opportunity to move to Australia. She rode trackwork for Peter Moody, Ciaron Maher, and Mike Price before taking a job with Racing Victoria, mentoring young riders. It was here that she noticed a lack of mental health resources and Racing Hearts was born.
Lisa Coffey and Angela Jones | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
The business expanded and now covers four states and territories across Australia, including working with Racing Queensland’s Off The Track program. In 2024, Racing Hearts was awarded the contract to run the McIntyre Centre at Pinjarra Hills, half an hour’s drive south-west of Brisbane, on behalf of the McIntyre family and HELP Enterprises. The centre has three coaches and runs Riding For The Disabled as well as Equine Assisted Therapy and a range of other related services.
Angela Jones created history in 2024/25 racing season to become the first female rider to win the Queensland metropolitan jockeys' premiership. The jockey is one of five daughters for her parents and grew up on a cattle farm 300 kilometres south-west of Mackay. It’s not a racing family, but Jones grew up with horses and surprised her family with a dream of wanting to be a jockey.
Jones was initially apprenticed to Lindsay Hatch, and built her craft on the Queensland regional circuit before heading to Brisbane, where she has formed a strong association with the Tony Gollan stable. Jones was fourth on the table the season prior, and in 2025/26 currently sits in third with 33 city wins in Brisbane.
VIC: Rochelle Adams & Sam Swaine
Rochelle Adams, former jockey, now works as a bloodstock assistant for Sheamus Mills Bloodstock and is an Off The Track ambassador for Racing Victoria. Adams sustained a fractured C4 & C5 vertebrae during a bad trackwork fall, which ended her jockey career. Through Adams Thoroughbred Investments, Adams works to rehome Thoroughbreds and also rides in eventing on her own Off The Track Thoroughbreds.
Rochelle Adams and Sam Swaine | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Sam Swaine, currently the Melbourne Cup Tour Lead at the Victoria Racing Club, previously worked as a commercial manager at the Moonee Valley Racing Club while freelancing for John Foote Bloodstock and Roll The Dice Racing. Her current role includes working with small towns, and local charities to coordinate visits from the Melbourne Cup and educating the public on the history of the Cup.
TAS & SA: Leah Goodrick & Jessica Tsaferis
Leah Goodrick, former jockey, is the stable foreman and office manager for her partner Adam Trinder’s training business.
Leah Goodrick and Jessica Tsaferis | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Dual licence holder jockey/trainer Jessica Tsaferis was crowned Champion Apprentice and won the John Letts Medal in 2021. She trained her first winner in March 2025 from a team of two, and has grown that to a team of 14.
WA & NT: Danelle Pearce & Alana Williams
Danelle Pearce is the office administrator for Pearce Racing, and she’s married to Dan Pearce, one of the brothers who form the Dan and Ben Pearce training partnership. From a racing family, Pearce is the daughter of trainer Stephen SJ Miller based in Port Kennedy. Together with sister-in-law Chloe, Danelle runs the Pearce Brothers’ Women In Racing syndicates.
Danelle Pearce and Alana Williams | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Alana Williams is half of the Grant and Alana Williams training partnership. Winner of the 2000/01 metropolitan Perth apprentice jockey title, Alana Williams still rides trackwork for the partnership. In 2025, they won the G1 Railway Stakes with Watch Me Rock (Awesome Rock), their first Group 1 win after becoming public trainers. Previously, they were private trainers for Peters Investments.
