3 minute read
A look at the career of former champion New Zealand apprentice Michael Walker.
The news that Michael Walker had retired officially from race riding brings down the curtain on the career of one of New Zealand's most talented horsemen.
A champion apprentice who broke the New Zealand record for number of wins in a season before becoming a senior rider, Walker retires the winner of more than 2000 races.
The first of his 25 Group 1 wins came aboard Smiling Like in the 2001 Wellington Cup, while he developed an uncanny knack to win Group 1 races at big prices while in Australia.
Among his eight Australian Group 1 wins were Caulfield Guineas victory aboard Mighty Boss at $101, Australian Cup success with Harlem at $61 and a Blue Diamond win on Tagaloa at $26.
The best horse he rode according to Timeform ratings was Criterion, a 127-rater, who Walker won a Caulfield Stakes on and placed in a Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup.
Walker battled injury for much of his career, with a fall at the Pakenham jumpouts last August the final straw, and below is a snapshot of his decorated career.
Career record: 15,581 rides, 2035 wins, 3372 placings.
Group 1 record: 360 rides, 25 wins, 52 placings.
First Group 1 win: Smiling Like – 2001 Wellington Cup.
Most Group 1 wins on a particular horse: 3 – Tit For Taat.
Highest-rated Timeform horse: Criterion (127).
Most wins on a particular horse: 6 – Comin' Through.
Most successful stables: Lindsay Park (186 wins), Mark Walker (113), Alan Sharrock (99).
Best strike-rate (20+ wins): Doug Haworth 33.8 percent (23 wins from 68 rides).
Most successful track (NZ): New Plymouth – 89 wins.
Most successful track (Aus): Cranbourne – 68 wins.
GROUP 1 WINNERS
Smiling Like: 2001 Wellington Cup
Grout: 2002 Manawatu Sires' Produce Stakes, Ellerslie Sires' Produce Stakes
Tit For Taat: 2002 Captain Cook Stakes, 2003 Telegraph Handicap, Waikato Sprint
Taatletail: 2003 NZ 1000 Guineas.
Danestorm: 2004 Brisbane Cup
Darci Brahma: 2005 NZ 2000 Guineas, 2006 Otaki WFA
Pentane: 2006 Auckland Cup
Insouciant: 2007 NZ 1000 Guineas
Young Centaur: 2008 Wellington Cup
Alamosa: 2008 Otaki WFA
Dane Julia: 2009 NZ Bloodstock Breeders Stakes
Military Move: 2010 NZ Derby
Puccini: 2014 NZ Derby
Spillway: 2015 Australian Cup
Criterion: 2015 Caulfield Stakes
Mighty Boss: 2017 Caulfield Guineas
Harlem: 2018 Australian Cup
Comin' Through: 2018 Doomben Cup
Tagaloa: 2020 Blue Diamond Stakes
Sherwood Forest: 2020 NZ Derby
Odeum: 2020 Thousand Guineas