Craig Zackey and his young family made a major life decision when deciding to move to New Zealand late last year. But Craig, like his compatriot Warren Kennedy, has made a huge and immediate impression on the racing industry in Kiwiland. After his fourth stakes win from only 95 rides in his adopted country, things are looking rosy indeed for Craig (27), his fiancé Sasha-Lee and their daughter, Sienna (3).

Craig’s many South African fans were abuzz on social media this weekend following his victory on Tycoon Tokyo – a last-to-first success from a wide draw in the $NZ 1-million Karaka Million Two-Year-Old over 1200m, one of only three million-dollar races in New Zealand. (Kennedy won the other $1-million contest staged on the day).

Tycoon Tokyo, a son of the Deep Impact stallion Satono Aladdin, was a $125,000 buy from the Karaka Sale for David Ellis’ Te Akau Racing, and gave them their seventh successive win in the race.

Craig, appreciative of the support from his homeland, told Turf Talk: “Te Akau is a very successful racing syndicate, long active in New Zealand and also branching out in Singapore and Australia. They have a big team, get people from all walks of life involved in the sport and maintain a good strike rate with top horses.”

Te Akau’s New Zealand trainer is Mark Walker, who has given Craig the most opportunities in New Zealand. He tells: “Mark Walker runs a big yard and he has several jockeys working for him including Opie Bosson, a world-class rider. He’s the best jockey on the island in my opinion. I’m fortunate to have been given chances from this leading stable and others. So far, so good.”

Craig and his family arrived in New Zealand on 3 November and he recounts: “I had no arrangements with trainers. I was always going to ride as a freelancer, but Donovan Mansour and David Makhle introduced us to the industry here and their help was a blessing. Having had South Africans like Donovan, and Warren and Barbara Kennedy close to us has helped a great deal in our settling into our new home.”

The Zackeys live in Auckland and Craig told: “We’re in a good, safe neighbourhood and we’re getting used to not looking over shoulders, which makes a huge difference. I believe that in our short time here, my state of mind has already improved as a result. I don’t have to worry about the safety of my loved ones when I’m riding or travelling.”

That Craig’s ridden 16 winners in New Zealand since 3 November is remarkable, because he’s picked up two 3-week suspensions along the way, effectively only riding for only four of the ten weeks of his stay so far.

Both suspensions were for excessive use of the whip (something he is not known for!) and he explained: “The rules are different here. We’re only allowed to hit a horse five times before the 100m-mark. I was one hit over for my first infringement and two over for the second. These are riding technicalities that are different to what we had in South Africa and I am starting to get familiar with.”

Otherwise, he said, the tracks were excellent, training facilities are first class and there is a good horse culture in which people work together for the good of the industry, older racing and horse fans pass on their interest to their young and participation for young people is fostered. “The sport is vibrant, the stakes could be higher but that’s a problem in most countries. We have good midweek crowds and Saturdays are amazing because the grandstands are packed with racing fans.”

“On feature days and festive days there are people who bring their own tents and picnic baskets and for the others there are food stalls and drinks, the race day teams everywhere do things properly. For me, riding in front of so many keen fans, so often, has been really encouraging. I thoroughly enjoy it.”

There are more than 50 racetracks in New Zealand and jockeys travel between centres like they do in South Africa. Craig commented: “Auckland is the main centre with Ellerslie being the major racetrack, but they are renovating there now so we race at Pukekohe Park and Avondale. I’ve also ridden in Christchurch and Wellington, excellent tracks.”

He spoke about the quality of thoroughbreds and said: “There are top quality horses, especially from a mile and up. New Zealand has a tradition of top stayers produced from top stallions and there are obviously a good number of races programmed for stayers. Overall, it’s a high quality and exciting industry and we’re happy to be a part of it.”

Craig has always been ambitious and he said: “I’d like to go to the top of the Jockeys Log, of course, I am competitive. But this is just the start, there is hard work left. It takes some time to get residency here, a procedure we’ll have to go through. Until then I am allowed to ride on a working visa.”

Craig knows his early success is no guarantee of anything and commented: “We’re paid $170 dollars a ride here, which is more than in SA, but we’re only entitled to 5% of winning stakes as opposed to 10% in SA. The cost of living is high and there is no way this will be a walk in the park. Warren and I ride work every day, there is a training centre 15 minutes away from us, another is an hour’s drive and yet another is two hours away. There is no time for loafing and for thinking that rides will fall from the sky.

“We do a lot of driving to and from the training centres and it takes patience, there is no speeding. Their speed limits are lower than in SA and they are strict at enforcing the law. What helps is that Warren and I can share the driving duties. There are racecourses up to six hours away. Flights are very expensive so most jockeys chasing winners have to drive around a lot.”

SA’s former Champion Apprentice and 10-time G1 winner is a talent of note, and we look forward to see him climbing notch after notch up the NZ ladder. Our big loss is New Zealand’s big gain.