Moerman’s unlikely start no barrier to success
Dennis Ryan - Raceform • January 15th, 2026 11:35 AM • 3 min read
Floor Moerman had already proven her riding ability before heading across the Southern Alps to compete on last week’s West Coast circuit.
However, wins in eight of the 26 races contested on the individually unique Greymouth, Reefton and Kumara circuits confirmed the Netherlands-born 25-year-old as a jockey with a bright future.
Her haul – clearly the best of any on the circuit – began with a treble at Greymouth’s Omoto track, all three trained by Whanganui-based regular Kevin Myers and including the Recreation Hotel Greymouth Cup on Sunset Boulevard and the Westland RC Miss Scenicland Stakes on Bozo.
At the midweek Reefton meeting Moerman won another three races, comprising a double for her employer Krystal Williams and one for the Pitman stable. Her week was completed with a Kumara double, beginning with the main sprint on Illicit Dreams for Williams’ father Kenny Rae and the race every West Coast participant aspires to, the Vernon & Vazey Truck Parts Kumara Nuggets on Bozo.
Myers had also provided Moerman with her first win at Kumara 12 months earlier, the start of a fruitful relationship that now accounts for six wins from 23 raceday rides in her one-year tally of 30 wins. Her tactical acumen was never more evident than her two rides on Bozo, a wonderfully versatile mare who went to the Coast fresh from a break after her win in the 3200m New Zealand Cup in November.
In the 1500m Miss Scenicland Stakes, Moerman initially bided her time before letting Bozo slide forward to sit outside the leader and then assert herself to win unchallenged. The 1810m Kumara Nuggets, under less favourable handicap conditions, was nowhere near as easy.
First she had to work Bozo into the clear from her inside draw, then put her in the race with 800m to run, even though not able to complete the task until in the shadows of the post.
Stablemate Sunset Boulevard had gone to the lead for Tina Comignaghi starting the short run home and was still clear 100m from the post. That’s when Bozo’s staying ability came into play as she found more and surged out wide to take the honours by half-length margins from In Vegas and Iffididit, while Sunset Boulevard faded late into fourth.
“I’m so lucky to get on horses like Bozo, she’s lovely and so nice to ride,” enthused Moerman. “She’s the perfect racehorse from the time she comes into the birdcage. You can pretty much ride her with one finger and ask her to go when you need to.
“Illicit Dreams is different, she’s just so tough with a fantastic will to win, and Sunset Boulevard is also very brave and gives you everything.”
Back in Christchurch after her big week on the Coast with a five-gram gold nugget as a lasting memento, Moerman admitted to RaceForm that her deeds on the circuit were something she was still coming to terms with.
“I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet, like when Greg O’Connor says that what I did across the week was as good as jockeys like David Walsh might have done in the past, that sort of makes you stop and think.
“It’s pretty much business as usual though, back at work and looking forward to my next race meeting, and I’m definitely okay with that.”
Moerman’s 22 wins this season and third equal place on the national apprentice jockeys’ table is a far cry from when she arrived in New Zealand on a working holiday more than two years ago.
“I was travelling around Australia with a friend, intending to come to New Zealand and maybe get a farm job mustering on horseback. My mother was into dressage and showjumping, so I knew how to ride, although I never knew anything about racing.
“I had seen racing on TV in Australia and when I got to New Zealand I ended up working for Kit Brooks in Cambridge. That began with mucking out and stable work, then I began riding breakers which made me think it would be cool to get my trackwork rider’s licence. That led to moving to Christchurch to work for Krystal and it all went from there.”
After signing her apprentice papers in late November 2024, Moerman didn’t have to wait long for her first win. That came at Riverton in the first week of 2025 and another three followed in quick succession on the West Coast circuit.
Her career hit a serious speed bump last February when a race fall left her with a complicated collarbone fracture that took three months to heal. As part of her rehabilitation, she spent time working with the Myers operation, enabling her to ease back into race riding on the stable’s jumpers as they prepared for winter racing.
“That was a great way for me to get going again and it was fun working with everyone there. You have to chip in with all sorts on the farm, but I’ve never been afraid of work.
“I board on a dairy farm just up the road from Krystal’s stables at Burnham, and a couple of times a week I do milkings. It’s a good set-up with a 54-cow rotary shed and I can put the 700-cow herd through in around two hours by myself.
“Back home no-one believes me, but it’s all automated and with the boys keeping the cows moving into the dairy it’s a very efficient system. Anyway, when I got up to Myers’, Kevin reckoned it was a bonus that I knew how to milk cows!”
While large-scale dairy farming and thoroughbred racing might be foreign to her family, the interest in Moerman’s career has been all-consuming for those far away.
“My mum has been slowly getting addicted and has an app that she can tune into my races on, which can mean sleepless nights. When I ring my sister to update her on things, she tells me Mum’s a bit grumpy after being up all night watching me ride, but no, they think it’s great what I’m doing.
“Mum was booked to come out here last year but two weeks before she arrived I broke my collarbone. That meant she missed seeing me ride at the races, but we still had a good time travelling around and seeing the country.
“She’s planning to come out again some time, which is just as well as I can’t see myself heading home for a while. With no racing there it wouldn’t make sense and I think it would be too tough trying to break in somewhere else in Europe.
“My visa lasts until 2028 and I plan to make good use of it to complete my apprenticeship. I’ve had a lot of help from so many people, Krystal, the Myers and others who put me on, our riding master Jason Laking and the senior girls in the room – Kylie (Williams), Tina (Comignaghi), Leah (Hemi) – everyone is willing to help and give advice, so I’m happy to take all the opportunities that come my way.”
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