100 wins for district’s junior sportsman

Race horse Kolonel Kev will be the one apprentice jockey Sam Weatherley will never forget.

At Riccarton Park in Christchurch last week, the Kamada Park horse took Weatherley across the finish line in first place to claim the 18-year-old’s 100th win.

At the three-day carnival in the South Island, Weatherley celebrated three wins from eight races.

By the time he left the carnival he had recorded 101 wins to his name, in just over a year of racing.

‘‘I had been counting down and the wins had been ticking over and getting closer to the number,’’ Weatherley said.

‘‘It was a big thrill to get that done on a big day.’’

This is only one accomplishment in the apprentice’s career, which is now into its second year under the guidance of Lance O’Sullivan.

Recently, Weatherley was named Matamata-Piako Junior Sportsperson of the Year, at the district awards organised by Sport Waikato.

He would now go on to contest the Waikato Regional Sports Awards early next year.

The last jockey to receive a district sports award was Lance O’Sullivan in 2003.

This award for Weatherley comes on the back of being named the 2017 New Zealand Apprentice Jockey of the Year at the New Zealand Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Awards.

‘‘It’s pretty humbling to be fair, I am over the moon at the same time.

‘‘I don’t think it could have been much better, everything has gone the way I wanted it to go and there’s been a lot of success throughout the last year.’’

Earlier this year Weatherley was the first New Zealand apprentice jockey invited to ride in Algeria in the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak world apprentice championship.

A win there would have earned qualification to race in the world series final in Dubai.

Visa’s never arrived in time for him to race in the the North African country, but Weatherley, along with mentor Noel Harris, attended the International Federation of Horse Racing Academies Training and Education Conference racing workshops in Dubai.

He was able to glean advice from some of the best jockeys in the world.

‘‘I learned a lot and it was just the break I needed.’’