Jockeys brought up on rivalry

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"It's pretty hard to be born into a racing family and not get connected to horse racing in some way. It's in the blood.''

For Jason Collett (18), almost every day there is a battle between his family members over things ranging from who gets to use the bathroom first in the morning, to whose horse will cross the finish line first in the afternoon.

And Saturday was no different.

Jason comes from a family of horse-racing jockeys, and was competing against his sister Tasha (21) and their cousin Samantha (20) at the Champions Day at Wingatui racecourse.

"We're very competitive people.

"We love winning - that's why we love doing this," he said.

Jason and Tasha are from Pukekohe, Samantha is from Cambridge, and all three are members of the Collett family which is well known in racing circles for their riding success.

"Dad [Richard] is from Gore. He started out as a jumps jockey.

"And Mum [Judy] was a jockey in Christchurch until she started getting injuries.

"I guess you could say we're purebred jockeys," Jason said.

Even his younger sister Alysha (15) rides horses and was exploring the idea of joining her brother and sister as a professional jockey.

Tasha said they spent most weekends at racecourses in different parts of the country, but last week had been particularly exhausting, racing on six of the past eight days.

"It's been a really busy week.

"We're off to the Avondale trials in Auckland next, then the Waipa Races on Wednesday, and Taranaki on Thursday.

"And if we feel up to going to Invercargill on Friday, we'll be racing there too."

On Saturday, Jason won on Zabene (Dunedin Cup) and El Torro, and the trio received several placings between them.

john.lewis@odt.co.nz

Photos by Peter McIntosh; prints available from otagoimages.co.nz [2].