Apprentice jockey in holding pen over licence
NZ racing firm on 6-month stand-down
Promising apprentice jockey Temyia Taiaroa wants to ride racehorses again, but her career is in a holding pen for at least another seven weeks. The 19-year-old hasn’t ridden in a race since requesting a release from the stable of Rongotea trainer Kevin Gray in September last year.
Since then Taiaroa had been riding trackwork each morning at Foxton and had applied to New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) to resume her apprenticeship and sign on with established trainer Gail Temperton.
In turning down Taiaroa’s application to resume her career, the sport’s governing body was standing firm on a six-month stand-down period for any apprentice whose licence had lapsed.
NZTR issued a response through its legal, compliance & regulatory manager James Dunne that said Taiaroa should have applied and had a transfer to another stable approved before resigning from Gray’s employ.
NZTR opted not to reinstate Taiaroa, instead instructing her to reapply for an apprentice jockey licence at the end of March.
“Ms Taiaroa resigned from her employment as an apprentice jockey in September 2021. As a result her apprenticeship and her apprentice jockey licence lapsed,” the NZTR response said.
“It is NZTR’s standard practice where an apprentice leaves their employer, without having arranged an approved transfer to a new apprentice employer, that we do not consider an application to resume that apprenticeship for a period of six months.”
Dunne’s response was referring to a situation early in her career where Taiaroa was apprenticed to Te Aroha trainer Peter Lock, only for the then 16-year-old to request release to be closer to home and family.
“Ms Taiaroa has already been through this process once, was reminded of when she resigned in September, and at the time she resigned she indicated to NZTR that she intended to spend the next six months riding trackwork.
“She subsequently applied for an early resumption of her apprenticeship, and after consideration, NZTR confirmed that the standard approach would apply. She remains able to apply to resume her apprenticeship in March.”
NZTR said it required people employing apprentices to meet appropriate standards and it provides support where the relationship between an employer and an apprentice becomes difficult.
For Taiaroa, the delay was frustrating as she felt she hadn’t done anything wrong.
On each occasion, her reasons for requesting release from an employer were personal, and were not criminal in nature or related to serious misconduct.
Taiaroa said she was grateful for the opportunities she had been given and for what she had learned from her time with Gray, long recognised in the industry as a mentor of apprentice jockeys.
She cited ongoing conflict with another member of staff as the key reason for wanting to resign. At the time she was concerned for her own mental health and had considered quitting riding altogether.
With NZTR now not using any discretion to reinstate her licence
It is NZTR’s standard practice where an apprentice leaves their employer, without having arranged an approved transfer to a new apprentice employer, that we do not consider an application to resume that apprenticeship for a period of six months. James Dunne
immediately, the enforced standdown felt like a punishment for speaking out and wanting a change to her employment situation.
Time away from racing meant the loss of a chance to keep race-fit and to gain more experience, and a loss in potential earnings.
Taiaroa first rode in a race in 2017, and since then had ridden 51 winners from a total of 565 rides, with almost $1 million in total stakes earned by horses in those races.
“I just want to ride,” she said.