Emma Wyatt has made her presence known in the South Island training ranks this season, and the multi-talented horsewoman hopes to add another victory to her growing tally at Ashburton on Wednesday.
A successful show jumping competitor in the South Island, competing up to Grand Prix level, Wyatt’s journey into racing began when she attended Polytechnic in Christchurch, picking up a job working for Neill Ridley before a brief stint as an apprentice jockey for Ross Beckett.
“I’ve show jumped through my whole life, and when I went to Polytech to study I needed a job, so I started working for Neil Ridley three days a week. It pretty much went from there,” Wyatt said.
“I’d get a job somewhere else, then end up back in racing, and then I’d do something else, and always seemed to come back to it. I did my jockey apprenticeship for a while, but I decided it wasn’t right up my alley, so now I’m training.”
Wyatt produced her first training win at her second attempt with Onceaconner in December 2021, and has added a further six to her record from just 58 starts, three in the current season. She continues to balance attending shows with training her nine-strong team, alongside preparing breakers with husband Luke out of their rural Ashburton base.
Wyatt will prepare five runners for her local meeting on Wednesday, four of which are coming off top-two finishes last-start.
Staying trio of The Bold Lioness, Jethro and How Unusual will contest a competitive Stackhouse Farming/Norm & Lee Anne (2200m) field, with the latter coming off a fruitful weekend at Cromwell recording a second at Friday’s meeting, before going one better on the Sunday.
“How Unusual runs a completely different race than the other two, so we’ll just have to see how the race pans out for her,” Wyatt said.
“Lee (Callaway, jockey) has done a great job with her in her last three starts, she seems to run for him so as long as she can settle back and have a bit of luck up the straight, she should be in with a shot.
The Bold Lioness has produced three strong performances since joining Wyatt’s stable in October, most recently finishing a close-up second at Cromwell. Regular pilot Kavish Chowdhoory will return to the saddle, while stablemate Jethro will have the advantage of Danika Wilson’s four-kilogram claim.
“She (The Bold Lioness) has been going well, she’s working and feeling great,” she said. “Hopefully she can run a race like she normally does, she always tries hard and gives it her best. She’s drawn a nice gate, and Kavish has ridden her in two of her three starts for me, so I don’t have to give him too many instructions.
“With Jethro, I was rapt with his last start at Riccarton, and since then he’s been working really well. As long as he can get out and forward he should be right there, when he gets too far back he tends to spit the dummy a wee bit. The claim will really help him as well.
“Going off their work over the last week, Jethro is probably going the best of the three.”
Lightly-tried four-year-old Fingerprinted was another that thrived over the long weekend at Cromwell, securing his maiden win on the Friday, before narrowly missing a double despite carrying the 60.5kg topweight on Sunday, finishing second behind Patsy Spirit.
“He’s drawn wide (11), so that’s going to be his toughest challenge in that, as well as the step-up being his first start out of maidens,” Wyatt said.
“But he surprises me all the time, I didn’t think he would go as well as he did on the Sunday at Cromwell carrying two kilos heavier than anyone else and backing up so quickly, but he fought on and ran a really good race.”
Wyatt’s other contender at the twilight meeting will be debutant American Tourist, having his first raceday appearance under Callaway in the Agraforum Growing Innovation (1400m) after trialling in late November.
“I’ve been happy with his trials and work, I think 1400m is going to be a bit short for him, but he needs to start somewhere,” she said. “As long as he goes out and does everything right I’ll be happy, and then we’ll look for a mile or further for him.”
Looking to the future, Wyatt hopes to continue building her team of runners, with stakes-level ambitions a goal for her promising stayers.
“I’m just building the team up at the moment, we’ve got a relatively young team, so we’ll get through Wednesday and then I’ll make a plan for where I’d like them to aim for in the future,” she said.
“I’ve mentioned to a couple of the owners for Jethro and The Bold Lioness that we would hope to aim for something like a New Zealand Cup (Gr.3, 3200m) next year if they keep running well, but it’s a long time between now and then so we’ll see.”
