SHAKOPEE, MN – Olivia Bethke dismounted after her first profession race as a jockey with an ear-to-ear grin and gave her dad, longtime trainer and Canterbury stalwart, Troy Bethke, a big hug.

An accomplished show jumper, Olivia has long harbored a desire to be a jockey.

“Show jumping is hard,” said Dad. “Setting up your timing is really important, and she has that skill. This is easy compared to all that goes into that.”

“That was so much fun,” she responded when asked about how her first ride went. The smile never left her face all the way back down to the jockey’s room.

Not only was it fun, but it nearly resulted in her first win, just missing by a head bob at the wire.

The race unfolded with Special Agent Man rocketing to the lead and leaving the rest of the field well behind.  As he bent into the turn in the 5 ½ furlong dash, he drifted far into the middle of the racetrack, leaving the inside of the racetrack wide open.

While many young jockeys would panic after being left behind by so many lengths early, Bethke continued to ride her race and Mor Tiger Paw edged closer and closer to the leader.

Through the stretch it was clear that Special Agent Man was not going to win as Benz Lake Echo took command, but Olivia never stopped riding.

“I felt like I wasn’t really moving,” she said, “but we were getting closer and closer, and I was like ‘c’mon Tiger, c’mon Tiger’ and we just kept getting closer’ but the duo ran out of racetrack.

While she came up a head short, her persistence and level head kept her horse in the race and gave him a chance to win when all looked lost.

And the winner? Also trained by her father, Troy. The smile on his face may have been from winning the race, but it sure looked the beaming face of a proud father.