By MIKE DILLON
Samantha Spratt says she doesn't like shopping.
She looks like she should.
The eyes and face that could grace a glamour magazine light up only with the speed and thrill of riding thoroughbreds at breakneck speed.
The 16-year-old rising Takanini star apprentice says she's an action freak who got so bored with riding the quiet ones at pony club she wanted to become a jockey.
And with two wins, a second and a third from just seven rides, she's making a pretty good go of it.
Just when you thought it could not get tougher to attract teenagers to the possibility of riches as a successful apprentice jockey, along come Samantha Spratt and 15-year-old Chris Rauhihi, who had his first two rides at Ruakaka on Wednesday for a first and a second.
If Spratt does not turn out top class it will be a bigger surprise than if every favourite wins at Tauranga today.
The poise, balance and drive are all there, along with a healthy disrespect for her own safety.
So far she has broken a leg, fractured an arm twice, had broken bones in a foot - none from horse riding.
"I've never been hurt on a horse."
And that is remarkable when a number of Takanini trainers have marvelled at Spratt's lack of fear on fractious horses.
Spratt has only one ride today, but it is a genuine winning chance.
Paolino in Race 4 is going to appreciate a 4.5kg apprentice allowance and after a luckless second to game winner Tsar Omar at Ellerslie last Saturday, the combination from the stable of Colin Jillings and Richard Yuill at Takanini are in with a big shout in a relatively strong field.
Spratt's first race ride and win were on Tunzi at Te Rapa on June 9, barely 48 hours she had been granted her licence.
Chris Rauhihi is a nephew of Herb Rauhihi, one of the truly underrated riders of the 1960s in an era of great jockeys.
The 15-year-old is apprenticed to Chris and Colleen Wood at Cambridge and Chris Wood sees a big future for him.
"He's got all the attributes.
" He's a natural horseman, he's light and should stay that way, he's very balanced and horses run for him."
The Woods have another apprentice, Ronald Stam, who rode his first winner at Avondale recently.
Samantha Spratt says she likes speed, action, thrills and sport.
"We were always having our own races around the paddock at pony club, tearing around the place.
"I'm a speed junkie, I like the whole thing about racing."
But not the glamour.
"No, I've got girlfriends who like to go shopping, but that's not for me.
"Give me the cattle and the sheep.
"Or playing touch rugby."
Racing: Love of speed sparks riding career
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.