KEY POINTS:
There might be thousands of pairs of eyes on her and hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake but racing star Sam Spratt is taking it all in her stride.
Twenty-four-year-old Spratt, the country's number-one female jockey, will be one of the stars of the New Zealand Herald Racing Carnival at Ellerslie today - but she isn't going to let the pressure get to her.
"You just have to handle it. You pretty much just have to get on with it so I usually just forget about it - it's the only thing you can do really," she said.
Pressure is something she knows all about. After winning three Group races this season, she currently leads the jockeys' premiership.
Spratt only began competing again two years ago after a riding accident left her with a serious head injury. Her horse jumped the running rail in 2003 and that stopped her racing for nearly four years.
"I'd always wanted to get back into racing. It took me a little while to get back into it but I'm feeling 100 per cent now and ready to give it a go."
Now Spratt is back, she is loving the fact that so many young people seem to be taking an interest in the sport.
She told the Herald she was pleased to be seen as a role model for other young riders. "You definitely like to think you are helping, especially for females."
The Auckland Racing Club is hoping for a repeat of the successful Boxing Day celebration that saw 20,000 people flock to Ellerslie.
The New Year's Day race-card features over a million dollars in stakes, with five Group races. They include the Group 1 $250,000 Waiwera Railway Stakes and the Group 2 $200,000 Don Ha City of Auckland Cup.
