Gatu riding high

Cambridge apprentice jockey Viktoria Gatu had a weekend to remember.

Gatu, who is from Sweden, experienced a career high, kicking home four winners over the two days. She picked up a double at Tauranga on Saturday and repeated the feat on Sunday at Te Awamutu.

Sharing the joy was her employer, Chris Wood, who saddled up two of the winners – Pacorus and Wooden Edge.

‘‘I have never had a weekend like that before,’’ Gatu said.

‘‘I looked at my eight rides and thought I was a good chance of one win but I couldn’t have dreamed of a weekend like that.’’

Pacorus started the roll for Gatu when winning over 2100m at Tauranga.

Pacorus has now won three of his 17 starts and Gatu has been aboard in two of the wins, the other being at New Plymouth on May 14.

‘‘Viktoria thought she had messed up last start when she rode him at Ellerslie,’’ Wood said.

‘‘She wasn’t keen when I said she was riding him at Tauranga but I said she had the opportunity to make things right.

‘‘Last start he got caught a bit wide but we stuck with Viktoria and she rode him well,’’ he said.

Gatu was having her first ride on the Stephen Ralph-trained Admiral at Tauranga and she got the best out him to beat the favourite Persuasive.

Gatu, 30, was again in the boss’s good books when riding to instructions getting first-starter Wooden Edge home first over 1150m at Te Awamutu.

Wooden Edge came in for solid support after being unbeaten in two trials and powered away from his opposition despite being last on settling.

‘‘I said to Viktoria when you get down the dummy straight get out and get rolling,’’ Wood said.

‘‘He needs to be out of trouble and she rode him a treat.’’

Gatu topped off the Te Awamutu meeting with a welltimed finish on the Denise Venntrained and part-owned Summer Dale.

‘‘That win for Denise topped it off – she has looked after me from when I was a 4kg claimer.’’

With the benefit of her 2kg claim, the hardworking Swede should be in increasing demand over winter.

Gatu doesn’t come from a racing background but her love of horses took her to England to enrol in the racing school at Newmarket.

Upon graduation she worked in England before shifting home to Sweden.

She had a couple of rides as an amateur before spending six months in Italy and three years in Spain, where she had about 20 rides in amateur races.

Her love of travel and an interest in New Zealand led to her reply to a website job post by Wood.

‘‘I knew there was racing in New Zealand and I emailed Chris about the job and he told me to come over.’’

Since arriving in 2012 she has ridden 40 winners.