Playboy Prince
Kenton Wright Race Images
Anzac Day again came up trumps for Ruakaka owner-trainer Kaye Taylor when Playboy Prince won at Avondale on Monday.
Twelve months ago on the same day Taylor, a former apprentice jockey with Alan Jones, won with Playboy Prince's half-brother Party Crasher at Te Rapa.
It was to be Party Crasher's last win and Playboy Prince's latest victory was a fillip for Taylor and her parents, Frank and Pam, as Party Crasher had to be put down last month after fracturing a pastern.
"It was really sad to lose Party Crasher," said Taylor. "He nearly died as a young horse and had a lot of issues and had so many unlucky runs. We never got to see the best of him."
Party Crasher provided Taylor with her first training success when scoring at Avondale in December 2014 and went on to win two more races.
"Playboy Prince is the only one I've got in training now," said Taylor. "He won well and Reese (Jones) thinks he will go on with it."
Forty four-year-old Taylor juggles training and riding Playboy Prince in work with her job as groundsman at Marsden Point. Previously she spent 15 years as a greenkeeper at the Ruakaka golf course.
She served her apprenticeship with top trainer Alan Jones and rode nine winners in New Zealand and a further 30 when she shifted over to Jones' property at Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast.
"My best win here was on Testament at Avondale in the race known as the Concorde, but it had a name change that year (1990 to the Wayne Wilkinson Insurance Sprint)," recalled Taylor. "I also won on Capestad who was a good horse for Alan."
Taylor rode for three seasons in Australia and had a brief stint back in New Zealand before suffering a knee injury which curtailed her career in the saddle.
"After the knee operation I couldn't ride short, but it's all right for riding trackwork," she said. "I finished race riding in 1995."
Both of Playboy Prince's wins have been at Avondale and they have been recorded in contrasting fashion.
His maiden win was in May last year on a Slow8 track when after being back in the field and held up he flew home to win over 1200 metres. On Monday he bounced to the front for Reese Jones and never gave his rivals a look-in, scoring by three and a half lengths over 1400m on a Dead5 surface. – NZ Racing Desk.
Twelve months ago on the same day Taylor, a former apprentice jockey with Alan Jones, won with Playboy Prince's half-brother Party Crasher at Te Rapa.
It was to be Party Crasher's last win and Playboy Prince's latest victory was a fillip for Taylor and her parents, Frank and Pam, as Party Crasher had to be put down last month after fracturing a pastern.
"It was really sad to lose Party Crasher," said Taylor. "He nearly died as a young horse and had a lot of issues and had so many unlucky runs. We never got to see the best of him."
Party Crasher provided Taylor with her first training success when scoring at Avondale in December 2014 and went on to win two more races.
"Playboy Prince is the only one I've got in training now," said Taylor. "He won well and Reese (Jones) thinks he will go on with it."
Forty four-year-old Taylor juggles training and riding Playboy Prince in work with her job as groundsman at Marsden Point. Previously she spent 15 years as a greenkeeper at the Ruakaka golf course.
She served her apprenticeship with top trainer Alan Jones and rode nine winners in New Zealand and a further 30 when she shifted over to Jones' property at Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast.
"My best win here was on Testament at Avondale in the race known as the Concorde, but it had a name change that year (1990 to the Wayne Wilkinson Insurance Sprint)," recalled Taylor. "I also won on Capestad who was a good horse for Alan."
Taylor rode for three seasons in Australia and had a brief stint back in New Zealand before suffering a knee injury which curtailed her career in the saddle.
"After the knee operation I couldn't ride short, but it's all right for riding trackwork," she said. "I finished race riding in 1995."
Both of Playboy Prince's wins have been at Avondale and they have been recorded in contrasting fashion.
His maiden win was in May last year on a Slow8 track when after being back in the field and held up he flew home to win over 1200 metres. On Monday he bounced to the front for Reese Jones and never gave his rivals a look-in, scoring by three and a half lengths over 1400m on a Dead5 surface. – NZ Racing Desk.