Racing: Cropp sets season milestone

Lisa Cropp set a record for most wins in a season by a woman rider in New Zealand when bagging four wins at the Egmont Racing Club's meeting at Hawera yesterday.

The 33-year-old Cambridge jockey started the day on 109 wins which was the equal of the record set in the 1997-98 season by the now retired Cathy Treymane.
Cropp wasted no time breaking the record when she guided Collection Girl to victory in the opening race. Three more wins took her season tally to 113 and she was nosed out of matching her previous best number of wins for a day when riding Brooklands Bowl into second in the last of the 10-race card.

Cropp said she could now set about winning the national jockeys' premiership which she leads by 25 wins from Leith Innes who will not add to his total of 88 wins, having shifted to Hong Kong this month. Third on the premiership table is Hayden Tinsley with 85 wins.

"It's nice to get it that out of the way," Cropp said. "Now I can concentrate of other goals."

Cropp has trekked up and down the country in pursuit of winners.

"It's worked out so far, I've done the travelling to get the contacts and had some luck, but its been up to me to get out there and do it."

Cropp started her career as a 15-year-old apprentice and believes she is riding as good now as she has at any other stage of her career.

"I'm very, very fit. I think I'm at the pinnacle of fitness."

Cropp has been busy this season having ridden in 823 races, 243 more than the next highest, Tinsley.

Cropp plans to continue with her have-saddle-will-travel policy.

"I don't mind going down to the South Island. You've got to go down there if you want to keep the association that I've built up down there with the big stables."

- NZPA