Track rider loves to frock up for occasion

Christy Poulsen, literally, has an eye for fashionable fillies . . . on and off the racetrack. Blind in her right eye, New-Zealand-reared Poulsen could not pursue a career as a jockey. So she settled on the next best thing: track riding. When she is not in the saddle working horses for Geraldton trainers, Poulsen loves nothing better than frocking up. And that’s what she will be doing on Sunday when Geraldton Turf Club hosts its annual Ladies Day meeting at Utakarra racecourse. “Obviously, I love the horses, they’re my life. And I love dressing up at the track,” Poulsen, 28, said. “Because I cannot ride in races; I can go in the fashions on the field. “I started doing it at Mingenew one year. I will be judged this Sunday, but next week I’m off to the Leinster races to be a judge.” Poulsen, who arrived in Geraldton six years ago, came from Waikouaiti, a small fishing town, in the south island. When young, she lost the sight of her right eye when wire being cut in a barn recoiled into her face. She has a glass eye. Gone went dreams of being a race jockey but she can still work horses. “I was riding horses since I could walk. I love them and probably get on better with the horses than humans,” she said. “When I’m not working the horses, I love dressing up.”