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By Jess de Lautour

North Island jockeys Lynsey Satherley and Kate Hercock gained a fresh perspective on race riding over King’s Birthday weekend, attending a meeting in New Caledonia.

Satherley had previously ridden in the French archipelago, but over the past two years, civil unrest and damage to infrastructure has disrupted the regular racing calendar. Now in a period of recovery, New Caledonia was able to resume racing and the two accomplished hoops were invited to ride for a local trainer.

“I went over there and rode for them two seasons ago, it initially came up through Grant Cooksley and a couple of others,” Satherley said. “For me, it was a nice opportunity to get away in the sun for a weekend.

“Kate had mentioned that if it ever came up again, she would be keen to have a look around as well.”

New Caledonia has a quartet of tracks and Satherley encountered a new venue over the weekend, comparable to the tight-turning circuits on the West Coast of the South Island.

“They had eight races and they were probably only seven- or eight-horse fields,” she said. “It was quite small in that sense and probably more like a trial day for the horses we rode because they don’t have trials very often either.

“I went to a different track this time, they only have four tracks and I’d ridden at two of them previously. This would have been the tightest, Kate compared the circuit to be similar to Greymouth.”

Having ridden through the current racing season at home, Satherley and Hercock were able to bring that form and experience to the fore against some of their less-practiced counterparts.

“It’s very different from here, their riding is not up to what we’re used to, which is probably why Kate and I had a bit of an advantage,” Satherley said. “It was different because they hadn’t been racing for nearly two years and a lot of their jockeys hadn’t been riding for that time, so they were hungry to win.

“The first night was a bit of a drama with flights being delayed, but the next day we were able to relax at the bungalow owned by the family. Kate and I get along very well, so it was like taking your best mate with you.

“We enjoyed ourselves, the people we rode for are a lovely family and they pay for everything and do everything for you.

“They’ve given Kate and I some dates in the future to go back if we wished to, and I’ve just signed a contract for a couple of meetings at the end of the month and in July.”

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