Levin. It’s famous for... jockeys?

A view from the grandstand at the Levin Racecourse in 1969. Photo / Horowhenua Historical Society

Levin. It’s famous for... jockeys?

There is no doubt, when looking back at the history of horse racing in the town, that it has a close connection to an extraordinary amount of talented horse men and women.

It was the win of former Levin schoolboy Ryan Elliot in the $1 million New Zealand Derby at the weekend aboard champion three-year-old Sharp N Smart that sparked the conversation around jockeys who have had a close association with the town.

Ryan Elliot gives the thumbs up after his Derby triumph on Sharp N Smart. Photo / Kirstin Ledington

Elliot is the jockey of the moment. Some jockeys can go their entire career without winning a Group One race. He’s won four in the last two months, and continues that uncanny index of jockeys with a Levin connection. The form book shows a list not only lengthy, it includes some of the very best.

Topping the list would be the late W.D. Skelton OBE. One of the all-time greats, he was based in Levin for a large part of his riding career, later turning his hand to training from a property opposite the Levin Racecourse in Mako Mako Road.

Skelton was the most successful jockey of the last century with 2179 wins, a record that stood decades. He was the first New Zealand jockey to ride 2000 winners and was champion jockey seven times.

A 1971 file picture of jockey Bill Skelton are he had just notched his 196th win at Trentham.

In the photo finish for second place would be Tony Allan, forever famous for riding Empire Rose to win the 1988 Melbourne Cup - the holy grail of racing - as a 20-year-old.

Levin-born and bred, he was apprenticed to Grant Searle at Levin in his teens and remains one of a select group of jockeys to have ridden more than 1000 winners in New Zealand. He still rides the odd race and he too has turned his hand to training.

Tony Allan, who has ridden more than 1000 winners, has turned his hand to training.

Searle, whose brother Wayne rode race day, stuck to training and was responsible for introducing a long line of apprentice jockeys to the sport, often grabbing them straight from school if they were willing to wake early, listen and learn.

Top jockey Jonathan Parkes served an apprenticeship with Searle at Levin and is just shy of 1000 career wins, while others to come through the stable include Chad Ormsby, J.B. Macartney, Phillip Mercer, Paddy Bell, Phillip Matenga, Jimmy O’Styke, Gregor Robson, Lauren Rolls, Hadley Searle, Mathew Ward and Clayton Chipperfield.

Chad Ormsby. Photo / Trish Dunell

Elliot is riding the crest of a wave but must be closing in on third place. The New Zealand Derby win came just a fortnight after he rode Levante to win the Group One El Cheapo Cars WFA at Ōtaki. He has now ridden 347 career winners - eight at the elite Group One level.

Often riding runs in the family. Elliot’s mother Leanne and father Grant were both jockeys who hailed from Ōhau, just down the road from Levin, as did his uncle Ross Elliot, who rode 335 winners - five at Group One level.

Levin brothers Noel and Gavin Waddell were both jockeys from a family that includes jockey cousins Jason Waddell, Casey-Mae Waddell, and brothers Sean and Kyle Collins, carrying on a tradition that started five generations ago with their great-great grandfather Stewart Waddell, early last century.

Current jockey Temyia Taiaroa learnt to ride on ponies near the Levin Racecourse. Her grandfather Arnold was a jockey based at Levin, while her father Evan rode in amatuer races too.

Three generations of jockeys - Arnold, Temyia and Evan Taiaroa, from Levin.

Ōhau couple Robbie and Rosie Lammas, who for decades have performed clerk of the course duties, both passed their riding skills onto their progeny, jockey sons Cameron and Buddy, while their sister Melissa also rode in a few races.

Rosie and Robbie Lammas at the mounting yard of the Ōtaki-Māori Racecourse.

Cameron might have more winners - 812 to 497 - but on Buddy’s wall is a victory photo of the Kelt Capital Stakes in 2009 aboard Vosne Romanee when the race was worth $1.2m.

Buddy Lammas celebrates on Vosne Romanee after winning the Kelt Capital Stakes in 2009. Photo / NZPA

Darryn Weatherley, now a trainer at Matamata, based himself at Levin during his riding career for many years, and his son Sam is now a leading jockey in the north.

While it is difficult to compile a definitive list of every jockey with a Levin connection, others names to surface include Sam O’Malley, Trevor Bau, Stephen Dennett, Danny Bruhn, Dale Bussey, Kerry Hayward, Emma Lloyd, Cody Singer, Danielle Hirini, Jayne Ivil, Erin Jillings, Bren Langford, Megan Davies and David Skelton, the son of W.D.

Jonathan Parkes, Ryan Elliot and Sam O'Malley at the 2019 Wellington Cup. Photo / Peter Rubery

David Skelton’s daughter Amy kept alive a dynasty that started with W.D. and his brothers Bob, Max, Errol and Frank, by also becoming a jockey.

Levin is also home to Dianne Eckersley, one of a group of pioneering women jockeys in New Zealand. As a young woman riding under her maiden name of Moseley, she rode her first winner in 1978, just months after women were permitted to ride on race day.

Eckersley was among a group of trailblazers like Vivienne Kaye, Sue Day, Joanne Hale, Linda Jones and Joanne Lomond who paved the way for female jockeys of the present era.

Dianne Eckersley rode Kiwi to win at Stratford in 1981.

Times are changing, though. Once, where youngsters would wake early and queue to ride a horse in trackwork before school, trainers nowadays are always on the lookout for trackwork riders and the next champion jockey, and are beginning to look further afield.

Levin trainer Illone Kelly currently has three apprentice jockeys who hail from the Indian Ocean island Republic of Mauritius helping her with a stable of 35 horses each morning.

Ashvin, Rohan and Ayush Mudhoo are not afraid to rise early and their efforts are being rewarded on race day with more opportunities. In short time Ashvin Mudhoo has already ridden 78 winners that had earned more than $1.5m in stakes.

Levin-based jockeys and brothers Ashwin and Jeetesh Mudhoo have now been joined in New Zealand by brother Ayush.

While it can be a great game when you’re winning and getting the plum rides, it can still be hard yakka for some youngsters starting out to gain a foothold when having to ride mostly outsiders, especially in the Central Districts with leading jockeys from the north raiding more and more.

All jockeys receive a set riding fee of $160 per race, win, lose or draw, while their cut of any stake is five percent. It is a rewarding occupation financially for those who are successful. As an example, horses that Elliot has ridden have won $2,357,935 in the last seven months.

But there can be no doubt that riding racehorses is dangerous. Eight jockeys have died as a result of a fall on racecourses in New Zealand this century.

- Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ on Air.