Samantha’s parents proud of her Wynne-ing success
By Aimee Walsh
FROM Fettercairn to front-runner, Jockey, Samantha Wynne is making her mark down under.
As reported in The Echo last week, Fettercairn native Samantha Wynne made the move to Christchurch, New Zealand in 2012, to pursue her dream of professional horse-racing.
Parents Peter and Lynda Wynne holding a framed photo of Samantha Wynne in Fettercairn Horse Project
Now, Samantha has just under 350 race victories to her name and is a top competitor in horse-racing, winning the 2016 Winter Cup with horse, ‘Miss Three Stars’ and the 2019 Canterbury Gold Cup, with ‘Who Dares Wins’.
Samantha’s mother Linda spoke to The Echo about her daughter’s remarkable journey to success.
“She was always animal-mad, and she loved sport. She was always winning football games and tournaments.
“Her brother Damian actually bought a horse years ago and when he bought the horse she kind of got into the horses then, she loved being on it. After he bought the horse, the stables opened beside us, and she started going to them.”
When asked if she could have ever envisioned her daughter’s career or success as a jockey, Linda says, “No, she was actually told years ago that nobody from Fettercairn could ever make a jockey. That’s what she was told.”
Samantha racing in New Zeland
Linda says although she is undoubtably proud of her daughter, the distance between them can be difficult at times, especially with travel restrictions during the current pandemic.
“It’s a bit too far unfortunately, I know she is doing good, but I would rather her at home, but there’s not a lot we can do, once she is happy that’s the main thing.
“We have been over there a couple of times racing and winning, and it was very good to see her live doing it.
“She had two falls there and we couldn’t get to her, which was hard. She says she is on the next flight out as soon as we get the ok.
“She loves coming home to see everybody.
“Everybody is so proud, the whole estate is really. Everybody is always asking us about her and saying how well she is doing.
“It’s nearly two years since she’s been home now, she would normally come home twice a year and we were very lucky that she was able to, but now since Covid we haven’t seen her. It is difficult, people say there is computers and all that, but my husband says, ‘you can’t hug a computer’.”
Giving a nod to her roots, Samantha revealed to The Echo that she had named one of her horses after her home, Fettercairn.
Samantha said: “One of the reasons that I named the horse Fettercairn is because growing up, sometimes you’re made to feel embarrassed to say where you’re from, so it’s kind of cool to see that she’s out there representing it, and she’s actually won.”
Linda says that she doesn’t share her daughters love for horses but will always watch the races after she knows her daughter has made it through the course without any injuries or falls.
“I’m afraid of my life of horses. I don’t mind watching the racing, but I don’t watch it when Samantha is racing. I stay awake during the night when she’s racing and watch the race when it’s finished.
“When it’s finished I know she has got through it.”
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