Stacey Edwards has grown up with horses but it is only thanks to a new initiative to get children interested in a career in the racing industry that she is set on becoming a jockey.

"When I rode my first pony race, I really wanted to be a jockey after that, and it's made my dreams come a bit more true and possible," she said.

The 13-year-old from Casterton, in south-west Victoria, came first in the small pony final in the National Pony Racing Series last Saturday at the Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, riding Napoleon.

"I nearly cried before I raced because I was so nervous," she said.

"I was happy to even get there, let alone win — it was a very close finish."

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