Racing
Jordan prepares for life on the road
Tasmanian racing is set to be without one of its leading jockeys for up to 12 months, with Codi Jordan taking an extended break to travel Australia.
Codi Jordan is booked to leave in early July; at this stage, her return is open-ended.
Come July, a small group of us in four-wheel drives will head onto the mainland straight to Cairns, spend a couple of days there, and then do the Cape York trip, right up to the tip of Australia," Jordan explained.
"We're allowing four to six weeks for that, and then my partner and I will leave everyone behind, heading across to the Northern Territory and then down the west coast.
"It's probably now or never with life and family and plans for children one day, so really looking forward to it.
"There are no firm plans, it's really day by day. We could turn around and come home at any moment, but we're eager to do some work over there. I wouldn't mind working with my partner at a station or in a pre-training stable, somewhere where I can gain a bit more experience before coming back here and possibly setting up something for myself."
It didn't take long for Jordan to establish herself as one of the leading jockeys in Tasmania since her first ride back in September 2020. She won two apprentice titles and a senior jockey premiership while still an apprentice, emulating the feat of champion rider Bev Buckingham.
Jordan has ridden 235 winners, including four at Listed level. She has twice won Tasmania's premier sprint race, the Newmarket Handicap, on Deroche (2021) and First Accused (2023).
She was apprenticed to Glenn Stevenson and still plays a key role in his stable as the top rider, and with her departure, Stevenson plans to reduce his training numbers.
"Because 'Jordo' is heading away for a bit, we are running about 26 horses, and we want to get that down to about 16 just so everyone is not flat out all the time. I can tell you she will be very sorely missed," Stevenson said.
Jordan says this break does not mean an end to her riding career.
"It definitely doesn't. I'm a bit of a sucker for it. I probably would want to get my trainers licence at some stage, whether that's a riding and trainers licence, so I just have a couple to muck around with, I'll see what happens when we come back.
"I want to have a family, I always imagined I would have kids before I was 30, but I'm soon turning 30, so I don't think I will put a time frame on it. When it happens, it will happen, but at the moment we have bought a Land Cruiser, we will deck that it and will be cosy for just the two of us," Jordan said with a laugh.
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