Racing: Ormsby a winner in the stands

Artesia was one of four winners for Peter McKay, scoring in the 91.6 FM 1400 at Ruakaka. Photo / Northern Advocate

There has to be a story in a horse, part owned by a jockey who rides on the flat and over jumps who took out a trainers' licence but had the horse trained by someone else and didn't ride it when it won at Ruakaka yesterday.

There is.

Tauranga horseman Chad Ormsby said he received a giant buzz from his horse Tabu Soro winning under Sam Spratt.

Ormsby, a huge talent, has struggled with massive weight issues.

He only recently took out a trainers' licence to make sure that on top of his raceday riding he was busy to the max to keep his weight in check.

He started out training Tabu Soro but, ironically, found he was simply too busy to give justice to a horse he started to get a very good feel about.

"In the finish I couldn't give him 100 per cent - with the riding I was starting to give him every second day off and I wanted the best for him."

Ormsby told his ownership partner, Tauranga businessman Neville Bidois, they had to have Tabu Soro trained elsewhere.

"There is hardly a better 2 and 3-year-old trainer than Peter McKay, so that's where he went."

Ormsby spent seven weeks sidelined with a broken collarbone and did well to keep his fragile weight issues in check for so long, but was always going to narrowly miss making Tabu Soro's 55.5kg yesterday.

He had to put some of the win thrill momentarily aside to come out in the next race and ride the favourite Mastermind - full of adrenalin he says - into second place.

Ormsby was to have ridden Obsession in Saturday's Mudgway Stakes, but when the Cambridge mare was withdrawn at the weekend he switched to mounts at his local Tauranga meeting.

Matamata trainer McKay produced four winners on the day: Glownight, Undisclosed, Artesia and Tabu Soro.

It was a perfect result in that he won each of the races he produced a horse in - in Undisclosed's race McKay also saddled up Napali, the more favoured of the two runners, to finish fourth.

Sam Spratt kicked home four winners on the programme.

And, yes, of course, you're wondering about the origins of the name Tabu Soro. "Neville named him - he says it's Fijian for never give in, never give up," said Ormsby.

It fits the camp pretty well.