For Rachael Murray it would have been easier to have kept riding work at Godolphin 18 months ago. It was a steady income and she was highly respected there – but only as a work rider.

Murray, now 27, wanted to be a jockey and knew time was running out. She had success as an apprentice but was not getting the chances after finishing her time.

"I wasn't getting that many rides and I was just fluffing around. I wasn't having any real impact in the city, just getting rides here and there. I thought you only get one opportunity at it, so I thought I would go back up to [Scone] and have a real crack it," Murray said, looking back.

"Godolphin was great because they are just a great company and you learn a lot there.

"You really start to understand with the better quality of the animal how to ride them properly and it has translated to race-day.

"The time there really helped me become better and that played a part in what I have done since."

Murray had ridden only 31 winners in 2015 as she worked at Godolphin's Agnes Banks property, but her gamble to return to Scone paid off as she rode 84 winners last year and established herself among the leading riders in country NSW.

She is starting to get her chance in Sydney and will ride Wouldnt It Be Nice in the Carrington Stakes at Randwick on Saturday, which is a long way from six-hour drives for one ride back in 2015.

For punters, Murray has become associated with doubles and trebles in the past year as her stocks have risen. She sits in the top 10 jockeys in the country with 59 wins nearing the halfway point of the season.

"I just wanted to give it a really good go, and I have and it has paid off," Murray said. "You have to have a belief in yourself that you can ride well to get a go off trainers and owners and I always have.

"But when I was driving six hours for one ride I was not giving myself a chance. It was about getting to a place where I could [give myself a chance].

"You work hard and it was like the snowball effect, you ride winners you get more opportunities to ride more winners.

"The better horses you ride the better chances you have to make the right move in a race. It is good to be on horses that are going forward rather than 100-1 shots that make it difficult."

Still, Murray battles the with unspoken rule that comes with having a Ms in front of your name. In some ways you have to ride twice as many winners to make it as a female jockey.

But the downward progression of the average price of her  winners this season indicates she has gained the confidence of the country racing community. She has gone from an average of $5.98 for nine winners in August to $5.67 for 19 winners in November and then a $4.03 average for 10 winners in December.

She has gained the respect of trainers, who want Murray on. She is seen as one of the jockeys who will get the best out of her mount.

Her biggest supporters have been Greg Bennett, who gave Murray her 300th winner at Scone on Sunday, the Country Championships-bound Invienna, and Paul Perry, who brings her to Randwick on Saturday.

"Horses just run for her. She can get more out of them and wins on horses for us that others can't," said Shannon Perry, who is the race-day foreman for father Paul.

"She is a winner, which is good for the stable. We just stick with her because of that and that's why she is coming to town for us."

Murray is delighted to get the chance in a Randwick listed race after riding Wouldnt It Be Nice when he resumed as a runner-up in the Canterbury Classic, and believes he can figure in the Carrington Stakes.

"It is lovely to just be in a listed race," Murray said. "I have ridden in some listed races before as an apprentice but never on a live chance like this boy.

"First-up [in the Canterbury Classic] he blew me away how well he went. Second-up he just raced like he was looking for the 1400m, which he gets on Saturday.

"He is the sort of horse that will be running on and could surprise them."

She also rides Petrossian in the final race. Murray admits he is one of her favourites after winning three times on him

"He has just been so good for me. I think he goes well for me. Just every time I have sat on his back he has given 110 per cent. He has never run a bad race," Murray said.

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