Hit-and-run Mile mission for Sydney-based Riddell

The last time Amber Riddell returned from Australia she picked up a big cheque aboard Toa Haka at Riccarton, and on Wednesday she is hoping to do the same.

Last season’s Champion New Zealand Apprentice Jockey has been based in Sydney for the last couple of months, where she is working for expat Kiwi trainer Bjorn Baker, but she has returned to Christchurch this week for a hit-and-run mission to ride Toa Haka in the Group TAB Mile (1600m).

She rode the son of Iffraaj to victory in the $350,000 Southern Alps Challenge (1600m) in April after competing in the NARS series in Brisbane, and trainer David Walsh was keen to reunite the pair, and he broached the subject with Riddell earlier this month.

“It all came about a couple of weeks ago when David Walsh rang me and asked if I would go back and ride Toa Haka,” Riddell said. “I know the horse, the weekend I flew back from Brisbane I won the Southern Alps on him, and he has got a light weight, so he was really keen to have me back on him.

“I am just riding tomorrow and flying back (to Sydney) the next day.”