Nikki Castle: first woman in South Australia to oversee a race meeting.

RACE steward Nikki Castle will take the reins at Ceduna racecourse this weekend, becoming the first woman in South Australia to oversee a race meeting.

She will make state history as the head steward of the five-race program, and is one of the youngest, at 25, in the country to achieve the feat.
However it will be just another day in the office – or the steward's tower – for Castle, who has been a steward full-time for two years.
"It's something you expect to do one day when you become a steward," she said.
"Obviously there is extra pressure, and I'll be a bit nervous on the day . . . but it's important to be prepared beforehand.
"I've got a good team to work with on the day, too.
"It helps when you can rely on each other."
Stewards are responsible for processing the race applications, managing the track on the day and ensuring the safety of the jockeys and horses. The Equine Influenza outbreak in Australia earlier this year has also created more responsibilities for stewards to handle.
"We had the map of the racecourse out the other day to plan for restricted areas – it's something else we just have to keep in mind."
Castle completed an advanced diploma of horse husbandry and management at Adelaide University in 2001-02 before taking a work experience position with Thoroughbred Racing South Australia.
Her career has catapulted from there and the greatest prize is now well within her sights.
"Perhaps one day I will become the chairman of stewards, but that's a few years away yet," she said.
"In the short term I just hope to continue running smaller meetings and work my way up to provincials and the metropolitan races."
Despite the level of responsibility, it will be a flying visit to Ceduna for Castle.
She will arrive via plane on Saturday morning and return home that evening after a busy day on the track.
Yet it will be a surreal day for the Adelaide steward who as a child spent very little time around horses. Her equine experience was limited to dealing with her grandparents' ponies, which she "was fascinated by".
"I have no other family history with horses . . . it's just something I became interested in once I finished school," she said.