Jockey Samantha Collett excited for Middle East adventure

By Jordan Gerrans

Loving life in Queensland, hoop Samantha Collett is excited to be on hand as one of the Sunshine State’s favourite sons officially hangs up the riding gear in Saudi Arabia this week.

After waving goodbye to Australian racing in late November of last year, legend jockey Glen Boss will officially call time in the Middle East at the Saudi Cup jockeys’ challenge at Riyadh.

Also riding on the lucrative card is Collett, who, after riding during the 2021 TAB Queensland Winter Racing Carnival, has decided to reside in Queensland for the foreseeable future.

The 32-year-old Collett has long admired the feats of “Bossy” and is excited to be there as the champion of the game officially bows out.

“He is a legend in our industry and it will be really cool to be there for his swan song,” Collett said.

“He is someone I will follow as he has ridden at some famous race tracks around the world and he has knowledge far greater than me.

“Anything I can learn from the riders over there will be a help for me and another feather in my cap.”

After a stint in hotel quarantine, the premiership-winning Kiwi hoop feels she is getting comfortable with the Queensland way of life, mixing her time up between riding work at Eagle Farm as well as both Coast’s.

She has been given ample opportunities from leading trainers such as Tony Gollan and Lee Freedman and has shown she is more than happy to travel to the mid-week provincial circuit to gain opportunities.

“I am really enjoying it, I feel like I have finally settled in and got a nice routine with track work and things that work for me,” Collett, who lives with fellow hoop Tiffani Brooker, said.

“People are pretty familiar with my face around the place now, which makes it easier.

“I am not sure I am ready to call Queensland home just yet – I still think New Zealand is home for me – but I have no intentions of leaving here for a while, at this stage my riding career will continue on here for a fair few years.

“Ideally I will finish up riding here, but I am really enjoying it, I am getting great opportunities and I am grateful for that, so I just need to keep making the most of them and getting the results for everyone.”

When based back home in New Zealand a few years ago, the smiling Collett was offered the chance to ride in Saudi Arabia but was unable to travel, so she was extra keen this time around.

“I jumped at the opportunity,” she said.

Collett travelled to Japan to ride in the 2018 World All-Star Jockeys event and is excited to add the Saudi Cup jockeys’ challenge at Riyadh to the list of her experiences with racing.

“I am so grateful – there is not many jobs in the world where you get rung up and get told you are being flown over there to ride and they pay you for it,” she said.

“It is a great opportunity.

“The most exciting thing for me is the different culture, it is very different over there with their traditions.

“The money is exceptional, everywhere in the world is passionate about the horse but you can just see it – the people over there live and breathe racing.”

Jockeys from the UK, Ireland, USA, France, Sweden, among other countries – as well as Boss and Collett from Australia and New Zealand – will descend on Saudi Arabia for the event.

Visiting hoops do not know which horses they will ride across the carnival and will be selected before races, with Collett to compete in four events – two on the dirt and two on the turf.

The challenge is run across four US $400,000 races, with the jockey with the most points at the end of the night taking home a $30,000 bonus.