"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.
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