While most of us are feasting on ham and salad for days on end and enjoying the long summer days — well, let’s hope they arrive — for those riding the horses it can be a slightly more disciplined day and period of time, where doing well can lead to considerable boost to the pay packet.
Leading Otago rider Jacob Lowry (22) says he will enjoy tomorrow, spending time with family and friends on Christmas Day but it will not be a full plate in front of him.
"I think I have learnt that instead of completely fasting yourself and going full on, that you have a bit of balance. So I might have a couple of slices of ham. You don’t want to deprive yourself completely," he said.
"But you’ve got to be realistic. Got to create that mindset. You are heading into one of the biggest meetings and biggest pay days of the year, so you have to look after yourself.
"It has always been tough, and always will be but you’ve got to be sensible. That is just the way it is."
Lowry has a good set of rides at Wingatui on Boxing Day, which is start of a bust circuit for him.
Timaru follows on December 28 then Kurow on December 30 with Riverton on the new date of January 1.
"They are long days but you do it as you are chasing the money, so you’ll go anywhere. You’ve got four in a row in a relatively short time. In normal times you might have one meeting in a week, so to get four in one week is something different."
Lowry’s morning will start at 5am , when he gets in a spa to lose some kilograms and then it ends after the final race, which can be more than 12 hours later. Then, if he is somewhere like Kurow, he has to drive all the way back to his home.
Lowry will ride Grand Gesture in the 2 and 3yr-old sprint at Wingatui and is impressed by the 3yr-old gelding, who is trained by Matamata trainer Daniel Miller.
"He’s been moved down here so he can target the three Guineas races in the south — Gore, Dunedin and Southland. So you would think he would be a reasonable chance."
In three starts, Grand Gesture has won two so has form on the board, including a last-start win at Matamata in October.
The horse had been working at Wingatui for a decent period so should have no problems with the track, though wet weather forecast for the next couple of days may not do anyone any favours.
Racing has come a long way since the dark days of the Covid-19 lockdown, when racing disappeared from the South and did not come back for three months.
On Saturday at Wingatui there will be eight races with good numbers in each as horses continue to get back on the track to compete.
