Collett making the most of her chances

‘‘The 27-year-old had enjoyed her best ever season in 2016-17.’’

It’s hard to imagine that any jockey in New Zealand is riding better right now than Sam Collett.

After notching a career milestone 500 wins earlier this month on lucky Friday the 13th, she hasn’t looked back and is now sharing the lead on the jockeys’ premiership with her Pukekohebased cousin Alysha.

Single wins by Sam at Te Aroha last Wednesday, Tauranga on Friday and Ashburton on Saturday were followed by a treble at Hastings on Sunday and a dead-heat win at Te Rapa on Monday taking her career tally to 509 and 20 for the season thus far.

The 27-year-old had enjoyed her best ever season in 2016-17 with 80 wins and sixth place on the premiership, which secured the jockeys’ trophy in the Matamata Racing Club annual awards.

To achieve that she had been the country’s busiest jockey, travelling virtually everywhere for 857 raceday rides, while Alysha was next most industrious with 832 rides for 97 wins and second place on the national table.

At Ashburton on Saturday Sam was keeping the saddle warm for her suspended cousin when she took the mount on star threeyear-old filly Prom Queen, who took her record to eight wins from nine starts when she waltzed away with the Gr. 3 Barneswood Stakes.

Next day at Hastings the middle win of Sam’s treble came on Miss Wilson in the Gr. 3 Spring Sprint and she now has her fingers crossed that she can retain the mount if the talented mare gets to the Captain Cook Stakes at Trentham in early December.

That race is rated Group One and a victory on Miss Wilson would address the only significant missing element on the record Sam has put together in her decade-long career.