Stacey Callow to hit the ground running in Queenlsand

Apprentice hoop Stacey Callow is not wasting any time in her new move to Queensland.

The 21-year-old is set to kick-off her riding journey in the Sunshine State on Friday afternoon with one booking at Ipswich before heading to the Darling Downs the following day for another couple of rides.

She was booked for her first few rides in Queensland without yet arriving.

The daughter of Group 1-winning hoop Noel was still driving to her new home on Thursday morning and was set to arrive later that afternoon.

With father Noel based on the Gold Coast for the last couple of years, the popular hoop has ensured his up-and-coming daughter will hit the ground running.

"I am jumping straight into it, I was going to start at Toowoomba on Saturday but Dad organised me a ride for Friday with Les Kelly," Stacey said on Thursday morning on the road from near Newcastle in NSW.

"I am straight into it.

"I want to move up permanently but I will start with the three month loan and hopefully stay after that."

The lightweight youngster has completed the majority of her riding so far in South Australia where she worked under the Jon O'Connor banner.

She has piloted 40 winners – 36 of which have come in SA – ahead of her riding stint being based on the Gold Coast.

Stacey will begin riding track work for the Aquis Park-based Kelly on Monday morning.

She still possesses a valuable two kilogram claim on the provincial circuit.

Noel – who was in prolific form on the Gold Coast Polytrack last Saturday with three victories – is a happy man to have his daughter in Queensland.

"I get more enjoyment out of watching her win than anything I have ever done in my career, so it is really good," Noel said.

"It is exciting for her to come up here.

"She has the ride for Les Kelly on Friday at Ipswich so hopefully she can get the job done there."

Noel has ridden all over the world throughout his illustrious career and has now been on the Glitter Strip for the last couple of years.

While he has mainly ridden at the Gold Coast on Saturdays, he has at times ventured to other tracks during the week, which Stacey thinks might help her getting acclimatised to her new surroundings.

"He can tell me as much about the tracks as he can," Stacey said.

"Going to Adelaide, he had not really ridden on many of the tracks so he couldn't really give me much advice but coming up here, he can help me.

"I have never ridden in races on the Polytrack before so he can give me advice there as it is different to the turf.

"There will be little things there that he will be able to help with a lot."

The Stacey Callow's have competed in a race together at the start of Stacey's career, which came at Strathalbyn in South Australia.

The 48-year-old Noel is hopeful Stacey can start strong in her new venture and eventually make her way into the metropolitan ranks.

"It is exciting and hopefully she can get away with a winner to kick her off," Noel said.

"I am hoping she can get in with those camps in town so she can use her three kilogram claim but we will take it day by day."

After breaking her collarbone in September of last year, Stacey found her race riding opportunities dry up in South Australia when she recovered.

"After that I just struggled a bit to come back, all the opportunities I had before the injury kind of disappeared," she said.

"The stable I was with was not going that great at the moment, which made things even harder.

"I have obviously got my Mum and Dad on the Gold Coast so I asked Dad what his thoughts were about me coming up for three months to see if I liked it.

"I thought it would be a good move as there is a lot more racing than just the three meetings a week in South Australia.

"I want to ride more and improve."

Stacey is hopeful of riding some outside work away from the Kelly barn in the morning to push her case for more race rides.

She gets started in Queensland with Apache Minto for Kelly on Friday.

The two-year-old filly is having just her second race start after being beaten by just under two lengths on debut at the same track over the speedy 800 metres earlier this month.


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