Sam Spratt wasn’t feeling her normal chirpy self on Sunday morning, but it wasn’t because of any overindulgence the night before celebrating her latest Group One victory.
Spratt make it stakes win number 90 and 18th Group One win when she guided Belclare to victory in the Gr.1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) at Pukekohe.
The popular and effervescent Spratt woke up on Sunday morning with both a feeling of satisfaction and sone unwanted aches and pains which she quickly explained away as a stray bug or virus and not self-inflicted.
“I got crook on Sunday which wasn’t much fun as I didn’t even celebrate that hard the night before,” Spratt said.
“I was just aching all over so I made sure I took a COVID test, which was negative, so I’m putting it down to some bug that is going around as I know a few people who have had it lately.
“I got teased a bit that I must have a sore head from celebrating too much, but I never did anything really so I can’t blame that at all.”
Spratt had good cause to feel pleased with herself after providing the Lisa Latta-trained Belclare with the perfect ride to secure the mare’s first success at the highest level although she is happy to take it all in her stride.
“It was really cool, a great buzz, but it doesn’t necessarily mean more than any of the other Group One wins I’ve been lucky enough to secure,” she said.
“Earlier on when I was riding for big, powerful stables like the McKee’s and Colin Jillings and Richard Yuill, those wins came around a little more frequently as you had the horsepower behind you which you need to achieve like that.
Photo: Trish Dunell
“I guess now I don’t have the really big stables calling on me, so I have had to be a little more patient but hopefully people have seen I can still get the job done.
“I thought Belclare was a lovely ride as she is always thereabouts and her worst performances were on the wetter tracks.
“When it was raining leading into the meeting, I was a little worried, but the track was in excellent condition and she just relished it.
“It’s funny as we got the perfect run and when I went for home around the corner, I was listening for them to start chasing me down.
“We got to the 200m and there was nothing near us and I did allow myself a little pat on the back.
“Mr Jillings really drummed into me you never look back as the winning post is always in front of you, so I knuckled down and when we hit the line the smile was definitely there.”
The victory made it 984 career wins for Spratt although she is the first to admit she has never been motivated by statistics and struggles to tell you just how many wins she has had in her time in the saddle.
“Someone asked me how many wins I had had and I couldn’t tell them,” she laughed.
“I had set a goal of 20 Group One wins and being so close to 1000 for my career and only ten short of 100 at stakes level, I guess I’d better carry on until I make one of them.
“I’ve actually been told off in the past for not celebrating the wins enough but I’m really not that sort of person.
“I tend to take things day-by-day so I just like to get on with life.
“About a year ago I nearly stopped riding altogether but Stephen McKee said to me that I should only do that if I felt I had achieved everything I wanted to and I guess that made me think I probably hadn’t.
“I still love my riding so I’ll keep going although over the winter months I have other hobbies that tend to take up my time so I may not be at racedays as much in the coming months.”
Spratt was referring to her burgeoning love of another horse-based endeavour in hunting, which she has developed a real passion for.
“People might think I’m mad when my days off are still spent riding horses, but I just love hunting,” she said.
“The people involved are so welcoming and I just love it.
“On Friday I was out on a hunt and the next day I rode a Group One winner so I can’t think of too many better days than that.
“While I’m healthy and enjoy my race riding, I will keep going, but it is nice to know that if I give it away, doing something with horses is still very much a big part of my life so I don’t think that’s too bad.”
