Racing in the blood: 1 family, 6 jockeys

Alysha Collett will ride two of her family's horses at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. Photo / Getty Images

Jockey Alysha Collett won't be overindulging at Christmas lunch tomorrow - but she is hoping to dine out on success 24 hours later at Ellerslie during the Boxing Day races.

Attending the Boxing Day races is a family affair for the Colletts - they've been every year for the past three decades - but it's not merely an occasion to dress up and drink bubbles.

Racing is in their blood. Richard and Judy Collett are both ex-jockeys who now own a Pukekohe racing stable and their children Tasha Calder, 28, Jason Collett, 25, and Alysha, 22, have all competed in the sport.

Calder's husband, Andrew Calder, also works as a jockey in Macau.

Andrew and Tasha fly back to New Zealand and Jason comes home from Sydney, where he is currently based, every year for Christmas and they all stay for the Ellerslie Boxing Day races.

"Christmas is quite big in my family so everyone gets really involved," Alysha said.

Richard agreed, saying they "all sit down and have a big lunch".

Turkey, ham and pavlova are on the menu for lunch and the next day Alysha will ride two of the Collett's horses, Selfie and Biggin Hill, at the Boxing Day races.

"As much as it's a good day to be racing, it's a great social day... It's a big day out and a long day out but it's enjoyable," Richard said.

The kids completed their apprenticeships under their dad's guidance and have all had successful careers.

"It was sort of second nature to [Alysha] to be a jockey in a way. She'd ridden ponies before that. It was easy for her coming from a racing background and probably she had the advantage over her friends that started at the same stage."

A third generation of Collett jockeys could soon be competing. Tasha is expecting twin boys in May. But Richard said the family wouldn't put pressure on the twins to follow in their parents', and grandparents', footsteps.

"What will be will be. They're probably not going to be very big anyway because both their parents aren't very big. If they want to be jockeys, they'll have the stature."

Richard Collett, son-in-law Andrew Calder, Judy Collett, son Jason and daughters Alysha and Tasha get set to take out a couple of horses for a morning run at Ellerslie Race Course.Photo / Greg Bowker

Monday will be the "fourth or fifth" time Alysha has competed on Boxing Day and even though it's one of the biggest events of the racing season, she was feeling "pretty calm."

"It's just all about knowing what's going on around you. You can't really analyse it too much because when you get out there everything can change. Winning would be good, but definitely I hope I have a good race," she said.

Richard was also confident his daughter will do well.

"She's always pretty focussed. She does her homework and does her form and knows everything that's going on. She's got a good understanding of how it's going to unfold. She's having a really, really good season," he said.