Lowry (16) steered home Valiant to win a sprint race at Timaru earlier this month. It was an appropriate horse for Lowry to salute on, as he was meant to have his first career ride on the horse at Wyndham in March before the meeting there was called off.
''Six and a-half months down the track and here we are at Timaru,'' Lowry said during a break in trackwork at Wingatui last week.
Racing is in the blood for Lowry. He works for his uncle, Shane Anderton, and grandfather, Brian Anderton, at White Robe Lodge at North Taieri, while his father, Rodney, was a jockey in his own right. Lowry is the fourth generation of the Andertons to ride in race meetings.
And it was his family he turned to for encouragement as his wait to rein home his first winner turned from days into weeks into months before Valiant struck at his 37th ride.
''I got beaten by a nose twice so that didn't really help, and I got a few placings.
''You can't let it get the better of you - you've got to keep trying. When you're on the ground, you've got to keep getting up.''
It seems like the affable youngster can remember all six furlongs of the race at Timaru, when asked to describe how the race panned out from barrier 10.
''It was always going to be a hard barrier,'' he said.
''We were caught three wide, but we just had to go forward - that was basically the plan from the word go. We were just lucky we were one out from the leader.
''Halfway down the straight he was travelling [well], but the inside horses were never going away. It was probably the last 20m when I knew I was clear.''
And what does it feel like when you know you have your first winner in the bag?
''It's pretty hard to describe - it's an amazing buzz. It took me a few seconds to think did that actually happen?''I struggled to talk to the strapper when I came in. I was lost for words, really.''
Lowry would love to reach 10 wins over the rest of the season - ''but any win's a good win, really''.
