The questions are answered by the four-time New Zealand premiership-winning jockey who made history in Saudi Arabia in 2020
Lisa Allpress is one of the most successful jockeys in New Zealand, a four-time premiership winner with more than 1,800 successes to her name, among them 115 wins at Group or Listed level.
The 47-year-old has ridden all around the world. In 2020 she made history by becoming the first woman to ride a winner in Saudi Arabia at the inaugural Saudi Cup meeting. Later that year she underwent surgery to have a hip replaced but was back riding winners in six weeks.
She has ridden in Japan, Singapore and at the Shergar Cup in Britain, which she hopes to experience again before she retires.
Allpress was speaking from her home in Wanganui, in central North Island, at the end of an extremely challenging week for New Zealand Racing in December after the 26-year-old apprentice Megan Taylor died in a mid-race fall at Ashburton. The tragedy occurred four months afterTaiki Yanagida died from injuries suffered in a race fall at Cambridge in August.
Which racing figure past or present do you most admire?
Joao Moreira (right) is a phenomenal jockey. I have seen him ride horses with no chance and get them to win a race. He is such a beautifully balanced jockey who always seems to make the right decisions in races and is also an amazingly humble person.
I have ridden in a few countries with him, firstly in Malaysia on an international riding contract, then Singapore where he was very dominant, then in England when we were there for the Shergar Cup. It was fantastic to be able to watch him and study him.
Which is your favourite venue and race anywhere in the world?
My favourite venue would be Tokyo racecourse. It’s a beautiful track; it’s so huge and the atmosphere is fantastic. You have 30,000-plus people screaming for the horses. There is nothing like that anywhere else. It’s pretty phenomenal.
My favourite race is probably the Japan Cup. I’ve seen a couple of those at Tokyo. The fans put banners up around the birdcage and the parade ring with people and horses names. Some of those fans line up hours before the gates open, waiting to get in, so they can be the closest to the horses, trainers and jockeys. For a racing tragic like myself it is so brilliant to see.
Who is your favourite racehorse and why?
Winx was an absolute freak but in New Zealand we have very good friends, the O’Leary brothers, who used to race a horse called Who Shot Thebarman. He raced in three Melbourne Cups so it was fun for us to know him and the trainer being Chris Waller. To have the stamina to run in three Melbourne Cups is some feat. He was a strong, honest dominating horse. They had a big retirement party for him over here at the O’Learys which is not far from our house. It was a great send off and it’s great to see him enjoying his retirement.
What is your fondest memory in racing?
Quite a few years ago my husband Karl bought a retired racehorse and we bred a little horse called Words Of Wisdom. He won two races. So we bred him, owned him and I rode him. At that point my husband had done lots of the pre-training but he wasn’t able to train him himself. It was pretty phenomenal. Karl no longer trains. He is now a beef and sheep farmer and I go to the races, but he still follows the racing.
If you could change one thing in racing, what would it be?
The standard of riding in New Zealand needs to improve. There are too many accidents at the moment. Horse racing in New Zealand has probably lost a bit of its glamour. The young people coming through into the riding ranks don’t have a lot of competition so are getting opportunities they are probably not ready for.
It’s a tough sport and I wonder if – not even just the younger riders but some of those who have been around a few years – have really crafted their trade well enough. That makes it difficult to ride races sometimes with inexperienced jockeys.
We are a massive breeding ground for Australia. Any of our horses who show promise are pretty much straight out. We are left with a third-tier horse and unfortunately that’s probably starting to be that way with our riders.
Anyone with promise is off and gone – James McDonald, Michael Walker, the whole Collett family, while Danielle Johnson was injured last season and has now retired. We’ve lost a lot of jockeys and I guess the riding ranks are probably not what they used to be.
Lisa Allpress was speaking to Jon Lees
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