Ottley finds the one she’s been waiting for
Matt Markham - Raceform • October 17th, 2025 11:00 AM • 5 min read
Leading horsewoman Sam Ottley has a lot to appreciate from her time in the sulky, but there’s always been one missing piece of the puzzle that’s nagged away in the back of her mind – until now.
Horse folk will often speak about the search for ‘that horse’, the one that could possibly define a career or lift one to a whole new dimension. It’s a common yearning, and no matter which discipline of the horse racing game one hails from, the desire is always the same.
Ottley is really quick to state she’s been very fortunate during her career to have been able to drive some wonderful horses, but, in her mind anyway, ‘that horse’ had always eluded her.
“He is that horse, the one that you are always out there looking for – the reason you go to the trials to drive horses for people, in the hope that you might get onto a good one,” she told RaceForm this week.
If she really thinks about it, Ottley knows she’s felt like the Steven Reid-trained two-year-old has been the horse for quite a while. But last Friday night at Addington, he put a big rubber stamp on it when he crushed his rivals in the $200,000 NZB Standardbred Harness Million to extend his unbeaten career to six from six.
For so many reasons, the son of Downbytheseaside shouldn’t have been able to win, yet he somehow did and with an arrogance that allowed Ottley to be able to enjoy the moment over the concluding stages with the race won.
“It’s taken a bit to sink in really. I think I’m there now though, where I can truly appreciate it. I’ve watched the replay a few times this week, and every time I do, it still amazes me that he could win the way he did, especially after not everything went to plan.
“When we got pushed four-wide going down the back straight, I thought we were in a bit of trouble, but he relaxed in front of me and just cruised up to them on the home bend before really sprinting away.
“It was one of the races where you kind of had to pinch yourself a bit afterwards to make sure it really happened the way that it did.”
A trial at Rangiora 10 days earlier had told Ottley all that she needed to know before the race, but a second-row draw in a red-hot field of two-year-olds stymied the confidence a little.
“He was awesome at the trials that day, he beat the open-class pacers and did it with ease.
“The trial looked and felt great, but Mark Purdon leaned over as we were pulling up and said ‘wow, classy’ and that really made me think about what kind of horse we were dealing with.”
“The run was enough to go into last week knowing we had the horse to win it, we just needed that little bit of luck. But as it turned out, he made his own.”
It’s been the full experience for Ottley to this point. She’s the only person to have driven Jumal in public and has ridden every high in all of the six victories up to this point.
And, from the first day she sat behind him back in February of this year at the Rangiora trials, she knew there was something a little bit extra about him.
“Steven messaged me and said he had a horse he had a bit of time for going to the trials and asked if I’d come and drive it. Blair (Orange) reckons he turned it down first, but I’m not so sure about that.
“I remember driving him and coming back in and saying to Steven that he felt like he was pretty good and he said that he’d thought the same but just needed to hear it from someone else. There was no way I was getting off him after that first drive.”
The rise and rise of Jumal has tied in nicely with Ottley on track to yet again register another big season in the driving ranks.
Last year she became the first female driver to reach 100 wins in the season and closed out with 108 for the term, but with three of the busiest months of racing still ahead, her 74 wins thus far looks to have her in a good place to at least go close to last year’s mark.
“I’ve been very fortunate this year, and having a horse like Jumal definitely helps because the more you are out there in those big races, the better.
“Last season’s numbers still look incredible to me and I know I’d be doing well to get to that mark again, but there is a lot of racing coming up and hopefully things can keep going the way they have been.”
A big part of the success has also been the form of trainer Mark Jones, who Ottley works for and for whom she does the majority of the stable driving.
“Mark’s having a great year, he’s sitting fourth on the premiership at the moment which is a really good effort and I’ve been lucky enough to drive a lot of them which has helped me out.”
900 career wins is just around the corner as well, and then from there, the push toward becoming the first female driver to reach the magical 1000-win mark will become a reality.
But for now, Sam Ottley’s pretty happy just being out doing what she loves. And, of course, there’s another Group One attempt with Jumal looming on Cup Day as well – a race both horse and driver can approach with confidence levels sky-high.
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