Cathy Hutchinson (nee Treymane) is still the only female rider to have been first past the post in a New Zealand Derby.

Hutchinson saluted the judge on Accountant in the 1987 New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie but her joy was short lived. The sound of the protest siren was an early warning that Hutchinson’s ecstasy at becoming a Derby-winning rider, at the age of 19, was about to turn to agony.

Following the protest hearing, Accountant was relegated to second and Satisfy, who was just a nose away at the line, promoted to first.

Hutchinson, who now lives in Australia, recalls being “absolutely elated” after getting the judge’s call and then the devastation of the relegation.  “I thought it was the end of the world.”

No horse has been relegated from first in the NZ Derby since.

The Derby would have been Hutchinson’s first Group I win but she didn’t have to wait long to get the real thing, with victory in the Group I Railway, on Alynda, six days later.

At the time, the Derby was run on Boxing Day, with the Auckland Cup and the Railway on January 1.

Accountant’s relegation largely centred around interference on the home turn.  Maurice Campbell, who rode Satisfy, told media after the hearing that his horse had “suffered severe interference on the turn, when Accountant knocked Savoy on to my horse and then I was carried wide [by Accountant] in the last 200 metres. All the evidence was there on the film.”

Hutchinson does not recall the outcome being so clear-cut and believes her lack of experience with inquiries had counted against her. “I was still an apprentice and hadn’t had much experience in the [judicial] room.”

Hutchinson’s employer, Alan Jones, would have been a capable ally but was prevented from representing her at the inquiry. “They [the judicial committee] said he couldn’t take part because he wasn’t an owner. But he certainly had a financial interest in the result.

“I do think I might have held the race if I had had more experience or support in the room and I certainly would have had a much better chance.”

The decision to relegate Accountant did go to appeal but there was no change to the result.

Accountant, a Vice Regal colt trained by Wayne Morris, was runner-up in the Waikato Guineas but was then unplaced in the Bayer Classic and Avondale Guineas and was the 12^th favourite for the Derby, paying $6.85 for a place.  “I wasn’t very confident [heading to the Derby] but I really liked the horse,” Hutchinson said.

It is more than 30 years since Accountant’s Derby run and more than 40 years since Linda Jones became the first female rider to ride in the race, but a New Zealand Derby victory continues to be the exclusive preserve of male riders.

It is a statistical oddity and the Derby has long been the final peak to conquer for female riders in New Zealand.

Female riders won the three other Group I classics – New Zealand Oaks, Two Thousand Guineas and One Thousand Guineas – before the turn of the century, as was the case with the Auckland, Wellington and New Zealand Cups, the Railway,  Telegraph and Great Northern Steeplechase.

Linda Jones won a Wellington Derby – a race that no longer exists – in 1979 and female riders have won the NZ Cup 12 times and the Group I Thorndon Mile 10 times.

Maree Lyndon finished third in the 1986 NZ Derby and Sam Spratt (twice) and Lisa Cropp have joined Hutchinson in riding the runner-up.

Had Hutchinson kept her Derby win, she would have joined a select group of jockeys who have won all four of the Group I classics in New Zealand.

Hutchinson won the 1989 NZ Oaks on Regal Empress and completed the Guineas double at Riccarton in 1996, winning the Two Thousand Guineas on Hero and the One Thousand Guineas on stablemate Emerald.

Regal Empress went into the Oaks as a maiden and held up the start for more than 10 minutes, after being reluctant to enter the stalls, but won easily, making Hutchinson the first female jockey to win a NZ classic.

“Winning the Oaks was a massive thrill and so was the Guineas double,” she said.

Hutchinson won almost 600 races in New Zealand, including 25 Group races, and her tally of seven at Group I level has been matched by just a handful of female riders.

She rode 109 winners in the 197-98 season, including 10 black-type wins, and finished third on the premiership, behind Opie Bosson – who was still an apprentice - and Chris Johnson.

Hutchinson’s career high points also included winning six in a day at Ruakaka and she won 38 races in Australia, including a Group II win on Egyptian Raine, in the Sangster Stakes in Adelaide.

Her success was not confined to Australasia and she took every opportunity to ply her trade overseas, riding in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, Hungary and France and riding work in England.

 Her European opportunities came when she took a working holiday in 2005. She had mounts at Chantilly and Deauville in France and rode a Hungary Derby winner in a weight-for-age race in Hungary. “That was a different experience but we finished third.

“I had an amazing career [as a jockey] and had some great moments. I feel very privileged to have had the experience. I never felt I was disadvantaged in New Zealand as a female rider. That probably wasn’t the case when I first rode in Australia but I think that has changed now.”

Hutchinson’s New Zealand riding career spanned 20 seasons, nearly all from a Waikato base, but she  spent the last few months  based in the South Island – “in semi-retirement” -  where she met her now husband, Stephen Hutchinson, who has been both a jockey and a trainer.

The pair moved  to Australia 13 years ago and Cathy, who now has a trainer’s licence, rode in Victoria in the 2012-13 season, in part to ride St Sambrose, a capable galloper who was bred by Cathy and trained by Stephen.

Cathy worked for successful Cranbourne trainer Mick Kent for six years and had her first win as a trainer when Leale was successful at Caulfield last year. Leale had a win and a second in three starts for Cathy,  while Kent was taking  sabbatical, which was cut short by Covid-19.

The Hutchinsons have recently moved to a 20-acre property in Merton, in Victoria, and will train a small team there.

“It’s a lifestyle decision really,” Cathy said. “I’m loving being on our farm and we are only an hour away from a ski field." 

Merton, which is 150km north-east of Melbourne, is not far from  the Lindsay Park training complex in Euroa and 15km from Bonnie Doon,  the village which houses the holiday property made famous by the Kerrigan family in the hit movie The Castle.