Samantha Collett is heading back to New Zealand today, but it will only be a fleeting visit before she returns to the Sunshine State.
“I’m going from August 21 until September 4 for a few weeks, just to catch up with my family and pack my house up and maybe have a small working holiday.
“Dad’s trying to turn it into a working holiday for me by … trying to get me to ride while I’m over there, but we’ll just see what the weather is like as I’ve become accustomed to not riding in the wind and the rain and everything like that … so we’ll see,” said Collett with her trademark laugh.
But Samantha won’t be the only member of her family supporting the airlines bottom line over the next few weeks as her mother, Trudy … who like her daughter has over a thousand winners in the saddle behind her name … will head in the reverse direction as she relocates from New Zealand to the Sunshine Coast.
“Yeah, mum’s actually moving over.,” confirmed Collett. “She is going to base herself at the Sunshine Coast. She’ll get there not long after I get back in September.
“She’s going to link up with Paul Jenkins and do a bit of riding there.
“It is a good change of lifestyle for her … and she deserves it. She has worked so hard her whole life. I know she doesn’t really love the New Zealand winters and I can’t blame her. I guess she just deserves to enjoy life a bit more now.
“She’ll be riding work for Paul at this stage … but I know what she is like, she be riding in races sometime. She is just too competitive not to.
“Obviously it will be nice for me to have her up here. Being away from family is always hard … even though I know they are not too far away.
“Mum’s been such a massive supporter of mine in racing, but just to have her here, not just for racing but for life in general … it will mean a lot to me.”
“She was here for a holiday. She stayed with us for a few days and really liked the place and decided to come back,” said trainer Paul Jenkins taking up the story.
“Trudy and I have been friends since we were kids. She did a lot of riding for me back home and she always did a good job, so I’ll be very happy reuniting with her when she gets here, and rides work for me.
“She’s not too bothered about riding race-days, but I think she probably will ride a bit on race-day as well. I said to her to make sure she gets her ticket so that if there is something there for her, she is available.
“She is a terrific horsewoman. She has been riding since she could walk.
“She has ridden in excess of one thousand winners back home. She is fearless. She is extremely light. She is a big help with the education of the younger horses.
“She just has so many good qualities. I’m really looking forward to having her around the place.”
