Matamata jockeys stacking up the winners
It’s taken less than a month for Australian jockey Jake Bayliss to find his feet and rack up the winners from his new Matamata base.
The 23-year-old made the reverse Tasman trip at the suggestion of Melbourne-based Mike Moroney to fill the gap left by Craig Grylls, who is now riding in Singapore.
Linking up with Mike’s Ballymore Matamata training partner Pam Gerard and also making the most of the opportunities offered by other trainers, Jake has already ridden nine winners from 47 raceday mounts.
Last week he rode doubles at Te Awamutu and New Plymouth and added another win at Te Rapa on Sunday on the Moroney/ Gerard-trained first starter She’s A Thief. Living right up to her name, the grey filly ‘‘stole a march’’ on her two-year-old rivals as she led from the start and scored by nearly five lengths.
Meanwhile, Samantha Collett has shown no signs of letting up from her busy personal best 2016-17 season when she finished sixth on the national premiership with 80 wins.
Maintaining a tireless schedule around the country, Sam has put together a tally of 36 wins at the one-third stage of the new season. With her keen rival, cousin Alysha, on the sideline under suspension, she has taken the lead in the premiership race and established a three-win buffer.
The Collett cousins won’t be able to rest on their laurels, as last season’s champion apprentice Sam Weatherley has also been making the most of his chances with 31 wins and third place on the premiership.
Last season Sam made no race of the apprentice jockeys’ premiership as he put together a tally of 67 wins and recently reached his first milestone of 100 wins. His current tally is more than double his nearest apprentice rival, fellow Matamata-raised and based Jasmine Fawcett on 15 wins.