Emily Farr
Trish Dunell
Welsh jockey Emily Farr is eagerly looking forward to riding at Ellerslie on Saturday.
Not only does the versatile twenty-five-year-old have five promising rides at the Pakuranga Hunt Club meeting but her parents will be on hand to support her following an impulse decision to traverse the globe.
"They always said they weren't going to come out because my Dad is seventy-seven and he said he was too old to go travelling around the world," said Farr.
"They emailed three weeks ago and said they were considering coming out and then a week later they had booked their tickets and now they're here."
Farr's parents Ross and Shan are no strangers to the racing scene back home in Wales, both were champion amateur jockeys who went on to train point to point horses.
Shan famously partnered Mandryka the "Welsh Wonder" horse to win 38 ladies' open races, but jockey wasn't a job title she had envisioned for her daughter, an Oxford Brookes graduate with a Bachelor of Science who is also a talented singer and was formerly a competitive show jumping rider.
"Mum has always said that riding raceday is a hobby for girls, because in the UK girls don't get a go like they do here.
"I don't think they realised how well I'm actually going until now. They knew I was getting a few winners but it wasn't until they got here and saw how big the industry is and spoke to people that they really realised."
Farr has rides in both the feature jumps races on Saturday teaming with the Ann Browne pair of Big Brownie and Raisafuasho in the Tractor Centre Pakuranga Hunt Cup and the Harrison Lane Hurdle respectively.
Farr, who mixes riding over jumps and riding on the flat, has partnered Raisafuasho in his last two starts which have both resulted in victories.
"He's a class horse," said Farr. "He travels and jumps well and he's got a cruising speed like no other.
"I would like a bit of rain just because when he switches off at the back he can make up ground in the wet a lot easier than most. But I'm still very hopeful.
"I rode Big Brownie at the jumping school at Ellerslie last Tuesday. He flew down the hill and finished off very strongly, we only went one round but with a second lap on Saturday he'll be thereabouts. He jumps so well being such a big horse so he's very exciting too.
"It would mean everything to win with my parents here. It's great just to have them here and to see me in that calibre of race let alone to win." – NZ Racing Desk
Not only does the versatile twenty-five-year-old have five promising rides at the Pakuranga Hunt Club meeting but her parents will be on hand to support her following an impulse decision to traverse the globe.
"They always said they weren't going to come out because my Dad is seventy-seven and he said he was too old to go travelling around the world," said Farr.
"They emailed three weeks ago and said they were considering coming out and then a week later they had booked their tickets and now they're here."
Farr's parents Ross and Shan are no strangers to the racing scene back home in Wales, both were champion amateur jockeys who went on to train point to point horses.
Shan famously partnered Mandryka the "Welsh Wonder" horse to win 38 ladies' open races, but jockey wasn't a job title she had envisioned for her daughter, an Oxford Brookes graduate with a Bachelor of Science who is also a talented singer and was formerly a competitive show jumping rider.
"Mum has always said that riding raceday is a hobby for girls, because in the UK girls don't get a go like they do here.
"I don't think they realised how well I'm actually going until now. They knew I was getting a few winners but it wasn't until they got here and saw how big the industry is and spoke to people that they really realised."
Farr has rides in both the feature jumps races on Saturday teaming with the Ann Browne pair of Big Brownie and Raisafuasho in the Tractor Centre Pakuranga Hunt Cup and the Harrison Lane Hurdle respectively.
Farr, who mixes riding over jumps and riding on the flat, has partnered Raisafuasho in his last two starts which have both resulted in victories.
"He's a class horse," said Farr. "He travels and jumps well and he's got a cruising speed like no other.
"I would like a bit of rain just because when he switches off at the back he can make up ground in the wet a lot easier than most. But I'm still very hopeful.
"I rode Big Brownie at the jumping school at Ellerslie last Tuesday. He flew down the hill and finished off very strongly, we only went one round but with a second lap on Saturday he'll be thereabouts. He jumps so well being such a big horse so he's very exciting too.
"It would mean everything to win with my parents here. It's great just to have them here and to see me in that calibre of race let alone to win." – NZ Racing Desk