SAMANTHA COLLETT LANDS AN IMPORTANT DOUBLE

By Graham Potter | Sunday, November 28, 2021

It was always going to happen, of course but, nevertheless, placing those first wins on the board since relocating to Queensland was an important marker for jockey Samantha Collett.

Collett brought a glowing resume with her when she arrived in the Sunshine State. With a Jockey’s Premiership title in New Zealand in 2018 and numerous feature races victories back home in New Zealand, Collett certainly had the credentials to justify the move but, at the same time, breaking into any new racing precinct can be a considerable challenge.

As she expected, Collett found that there was no overnight success, just a belief, buoyed by a solid work ethic, in her own ability to progress her cause to the point where the reason for the motivation behind the move could gain some real traction … and nothing adds focus to a jockey’s profile and helps them gather momentum more than putting winners on the board.

That’s why Collett’s double at Ipswich on Saturday … aboard Accardo and Jakama (both for trainer John Dann) … was significant.

“Yeah, it was obviously a good turn of events for a day that started off being a disappointment with the abandonment of the Gold Coast,” said Collett, running through her change of plans on the day.

“I originally had four rides at the Gold Coast and, when that meeting was off, my manager Cam Partington rang me when I was riding work in the morning and said he’d managed to secure me those rides at Ipswich. John Dann didn’t have riders engaged at that stage and that was my good luck in the end.”

It took Collett just shy of a month in Queensland before that first winner came along, but at no stage was she concerned about her progress.

“I’m very comfortable with my decision to come to Queensland. Most definitely it was the right decision,” continued Collett.

“I knew it would not be easy. I’m not afraid of hard draft. It took me thirteen years back home to win a Premiership in New Zealand.

“I was never worried because I was happy with the support I was getting from trainers as a start-off … and I was also satisfied that, up until the wins yesterday, I had given my horses every possible chance. For me that was key.

“There have always been some periods at home when I had a quiet time, but you know you are capable of riding winners, and it is just a matter of not changing things and not overthinking things.

“It’s just about believing in yourself. If you don’t, nobody else will … right?

“I was very confident when Cam told me he had secured those rides at Ipswich. I was confident with both of them. I felt they both would run well.

“The first (Accardo) was taking a little bit more encouragement to sort of get his A into G. John (Dann) had said to me that he was one of those sorts of horses that needed a real strong ride from the 600m on … and I was obviously keen to get away from the fence to give him that opportunity.

“Jakama was coming off the back of a pretty solid run in town last time. My initial plan was to race a bit closer to the speed, but after the tardy get away, I was keen to go to Plan B, which was just to get to the fence and save some ground. He is a lovely, trackable horse to ride which enabled me to use him up a bit early and then ask him to settle.

“It was really good to repay them for giving me the opportunity.

“Sure, those wins did come with a sense of relief,” acknowledged Collett. “Like I said, I am confident in my own ability, but I’m also aware that it is tough here with the amount of really good riders there are.

“To make the best of my opportunity of making a good earn here I have to be seen to be getting results and Saturday was a good start in that regard.”

And what about the hard work behind the scenes?

“I usually ride work at Eagle Farm twice a week,” explained Collett. “I usually go and do a couple of horses for Tony Gollan first-off and then try to get around to Kelly Schweida, Barry Lockwood, Chris Munce … I really just try to get around to as many trainers as I can.

“I spend some mornings at the Sunshine Coast. I go to the Sunshine Coast to ride work for Paul Duncan, David Vandyke and my local Kiwi, Sheila (Laxon) and John (Symons).

“I guess I will get to the point where, if I get one stable that is going to support me more, I will put in more time there.”

Interestingly enough, in her first month of action since settling in Queensland, Collett has already ridden in races for no less than twenty-two trainers … so she is certainly getting about.

“It’s cool. I guess you can say I’m still finding my way … but, right now, I’m here to work hard and get results.

“No, I don’t need a day off,” (not even when the Gold Coast is abandoned).

“I can get plenty of those when I retire.”

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