Sam Collett returning home on working holiday

[Wandering Eyes]

Expat Kiwi jockey Sam Collett. Photo: Trish Dunell

Sam Collett will brave New Zealand’s winter for a fortnight to catch up with family and friends and will be available for rides this weekend.

The expatriate Kiwi jockey has firmly established herself in Queensland and is taking time out to return home to also take care of personal business.

“I’ll be over for two weeks from Brisbane and will be riding on Saturday and on Sunday,” Collett said.

“I haven’t got anything confirmed yet for Te Rapa but am packing my bags so if the rides are there that would be great.

“I’m not over to ride anything in particular, but Dad (Jim) has got a couple running on Sunday at Matamata so what kind of a daughter would I be if I didn’t ride his ones.

“It’s nothing too exciting, but it will be nice to ride for him as I haven’t done that for a little while.”

Collett, 33, will also be putting in some time at her lifestyle block outside of Matamata.

“I’m going to tidy my place up because when I left I wasn’t sure how long I would be away for and at this stage it’s sitting empty,” she said.

“I want to tidy it and see if I can hopefully get some tenants in there and obviously catch up with everyone, so it’s a bit of a working holiday.”

Collett, who won New Zealand jockeys’ premiership in the 2017-18 season with 131 winners, left New Zealand for Queensland in 2021 and has never had cause to regret her move.

“I’m really enjoying it and the new challenge has been great,” she said.

“I have established myself, the weather is nice and I also rode my 1000th career winner while I’ve been here and that was pretty cool.”

Collett brought up that notable milestone at Rockhampton at the end of April to join her parents Jim Collett and Trudy Thornton in reaching that mark.

She rode her first winner at Ruakaka in 2007 and her career tally includes three victories at Group One level, the first being the 2019 Auckland Cup (3200m) aboard the Bill Thurlow-trained Glory Days.

Collett won the Ellerslie staying feature the following year with Anthony Fuller’s Roger That and in between times claimed the Levin Classic (1600m) with Travelling Light for Ben Foote.

She ended last season with 59 winners and her rides earned more than $3 million.

“Things are ticking along great, and I am enjoying the racing in Queensland and there are a lot of Kiwis here so it doesn’t seem too foreign,” Collett said.

“I’m renting a property in the city so I’m pretty much based at Eagle Farm and do most of my trackwork riding there.

“The riding ranks are pretty competitive, which is good for my riding and you learn new things.

“You learn to ride new tracks and how people like things done, it’s been a fantastic learning experience so far.”

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