Lyndon homesic 'N.Z. way of life'

Press, 2 June 1989, Page 33

Lyndon homesic 'N.Z. way of life'

PA Wellington Homesickness has forced former top New Zealand jockey Maree Lyndon to end an overseas riding stint. Lyndon, 25, who has been riding on the Singa-pore-Malaysian circuit for the last 18 months, has ‘‘had enough” and plans to return home in August. “My licence expires on July 31 and although I could renew it I just want to come home,” said Lyndon from Penang, Malaysia, yesterday. “I want to get back to the New Zealand way of life.”

Lyndon rode for nearly a year in Australia before taking up her Penang appointment in November 1987. It is not lack of success that has prompted Lyndon’s decision. She is presently heading the jockeys’ premiership with 29 wins, seven ahead of her nearest rival.

Lyndon rides for the top stables of Teh Choon Beng, but she said there was little variety in the racing. "It’s a leading stable but you’ve only got four racetracks and it’s just becoming too monotonous now.”

Racing is conducted on Saturdays and Sundays and when it is not at her home-track of Penang she flies to the other tracks.

“Ipoh is half an hour away and Kuala Lumpur and Singapore are both one hour.

“It’s just a job. I’d be more happy at home because it’s pretty tiring with the travelling and a lot of trackwork. We’ve got about 80 horses in work. Every day is the same.”

Lyndon makes no secret that her stint in Singapore-Malaysia has been lucrative but she said money did not count for everything. “I tossed up whether the money is worth staying for but I decided it wasn’t “There is no free time. Life here in general is pretty dull.” “I dehydrate very quickly and because of this my riding weight is only 45kg. “I got down to 43kg at one stage which was just too light.”

She said the minimum weight for races is 48kg but most of the horses she rides are nearer the top of the handicap. "The topweight can be 62kg here and that is just ridiculous for me.” Lyndon said the dehydration problem did not allow her to ride in all races on a day’s programme of seven to nine races.

"Because of the heat I can only ride five a day. I’ll start off at 45kg and by the end of the day I’ll be 43-44 kg.

“Then you have to ride again the next day and you’ll end up losing another kilo so it’s really quite tiring.” Before arriving at

Penang in November of 1987 Lyndon had ridden in Sydney for the previous 12 months. There she rode for New Zealander Brian Smith where she well and truly made her mark in what is regarded as one of the toughest racing centres in the world.

It was when Smith returned home to New Zealand that she left Australia for Malaysia. However she would not hesitate at returning to Australia with the right offer. “I would love to. But it is just so hard to get a good contract. “I sort of regret leaving there but you can’t freelance there. All the top stables are sewn up and being the number three jockey for a stable is absolutely hopeless.”

In her first full season of riding in Malaysia and Singapore, Lyndon finished third on the jockeys’ premiership without using all opportunities. “I had a lot of holidays in between. I think I only rode for about a total of eight months out of the year.

“I went to the United States for two weeks, New Zealand a couple of times. . .you just have to have breaks from here.”

Asked of the racing differences between Singapore-Malaysia and New Zealand and Australia Lyndon raised a hearty laugh. “A big difference — the standard of riding for a

four start," she said. -e. “But remember lod horses we have here ai. cast-offs from New Zealand and Australia. The majority of them are bought for only a couple of thousand dollars. “They’re not real horse people either. This place is not a breeding country for horses. They just race them. They don’t have things like pony clubs for the youngsters to come up from. “When you see these budding young jockeys they are kids that have never seen a horse before in their lives.

“But because they are small-framed they are told they can make money out of it and away they go.”

She said she will resettle in Palmerston North where she was based before going to Australia and ride on a freelance basis. She was in the top bracket of riders when in New Zealand but some of her best achievements have been in Australia.

In 1987 she partnered New Zealand stayer Lord Reims to the first of his record three Adelaide Cup wins and in the same year became the first woman to ride in the Melbourne Cup. She also partnered Sirtain to win the 1982 New Zealand Cup at Riccarton and has two Bayer Classics successes at Levin to her name with Princess Dram in 1984 and The Bishop in 1986.