Karin Kisfaludy just wants her shot.

For more than a decade, the 28-year-old apprentice jockey worked the Southern California training circuit, hoping to catch the eye of a trainer willing to take a chance on her.

A San Diego native, Kisfaludy started racing at age 17 at the Rancho Paseana Training Center in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., a few miles north of her hometown.

After getting her jockey’s license at age 18, Kisfaludy hooked up with trainer Jerry Fanning, who gave her the first chance to gallop a horse on the track at Del Mar.

“To be honest, when I got on it, all I could think about – it was just addicting,” she said. “The first time I was on the track at Del Mar, it was just an addiction.”

From there, Kisfaludy started her climb up the ranks, working out horses for trainers such as Fanning, Ron McAnally, Bruce Headley and Dan Hendricks at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., hoping to catch on and get a turn around the track.

According to her agent, former Longacres jockey Larry Pierce, Kisfaludy’s time training, as well as her experience riding at smaller unsanctioned tracks in Mexico, gives her a good shot at catching a ride at Emerald Downs.

“She’s ridden a little in the bushes and some match races down in Mexico around the border towns,” he said. “She’s a strong little thing and has a lot of nerve.”

Earlier this year, the 110-pound Kisfaludy decided to head north and try her luck at breaking in at Emerald Downs.

“I came up here strictly to ride races,” she said. “It’s very difficult in Southern California, as a female, to break in and get a good start.

“I think at Santa Anita it’s hard because there are a lot of riders, a lot of good riders, who have a lot under their belt,” Kisfaludy continued. “For me, being a woman who had never ridden a race – I decided to try it somewhere else.”

Under the tutelage of Pierce, a Washington Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame rider, Kisfaludy received plenty of attention in training this year at the Auburn track.

“We’ve been here all spring just working horses and getting on horses,” Pierce added. “People have seen that she has some talent, and there are some pretty good trainers that are going to give her an opportunity early.”

With her chances to ride improving, Kisfaludy said she doesn’t mind the dismal Washington weather.

“The people are nice, the air is better, the weather I like, although it rains a lot,” she said. “You’ve got to take the sacrifices sometimes. It’s better than fighting hurricanes or tornadoes. So it could be worse.”

Although Kisfaludy was not assigned a ride in any of the seven opening day races, she believes her chance is coming, possibly in a race Saturday or Sunday.

“It seems like I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting for my first race,” she said. “So I don’t know if I’m excited. I just think I’m ready.”

Her agent agrees.

“She’s got to sell herself in the saddle,” Pierce said. “But she’s smart and really has nice hands on a horse. I’m really pleased with her.”

Added Kisfaludy: “I just want to prove to myself and other people that all this work and all I’ve done has finally paid off.”