“There’s something about that adrenaline of racing that keeps me ticking away.”
As a child, he and his two younger sisters Katie and Samantha always had horses around.
Their father Greg Bothamley moved the family to a new house on Ruru Ave just so they could house their animals in the backyard.
Their next house, on Nelson Road, saw the family grow again with the introduction of a racehorse on the property.
“The kids had a pony and a motorbike each . . . they were constantly getting hurt. We had 36 ACC claims in one year between them.”
Greg said their house was often the meeting place for the neighbourhood kids and they would keep a couple of spare motorbikes around, so everyone would have something to ride.
Daniel had a “deep love for horses”, but growing up he was more interested in petrol-powered speed before he got his first job, Greg said.
“The rule was, you can leave home if you got a good career job and Daniel wasn’t enjoying school. . . so he left home to become a jockey at 15.”
Now 36-years-old, Bothamley has racked up over 2500 race starts, over $2,350,000 in prize money, and is quickly approaching 200 wins.
With 198 wins already under his belt, he said it was “pretty easy” for riders these days to notch up 200 wins, but given his pathway, it is a significant achievement.
At six-foot tall (183cm), Bothamley is tall for a jockey and has previously struggled with his weight, which has to be below 60 kilograms for him to race.
“Weight management is everything for a tall jockey. I walk around at the 60-61 kilogram mark, off peak it’s close to 70kg.
“I’m quite lean, but I spend most of my time on a diet.”
Racehorses have a maximum limit they are allowed to carry based on their previous performances and breed. For the most prestigious race in the world, the Kentucky Derby, a jockey and his equipment, including the saddle, cannot be over 126 pounds (57.2kg).
Bothamley said he’s only able to ride the “heavier horses” and he’s had to miss several races over his career due to his weight.
After starting his apprenticeship in jockeying in Matamata, Bothamley started racing in Hawke’s Bay in the 2002 season. In 2003 he moved to Christchurch, to continue his pursuit of the sport. Over the next two seasons, he would race 630 times, notching up 34 wins.
He lived in the Garden City for 12 years before moving further south to Invercargill, where has been based for the past six years.
Between trying to maintain his weight and the cold, he tries to only race in the warmer summer months, he said.
This year Bothamley had planned to work for a building firm over the winter, but when duty calls, he’s as busy as he has ever been as a professional jockey.
He has already saddled up 220 times this season, nearly as many times as he had raced in the past four seasons combined.
The strategy of keeping busy is seemingly paying off. Having already amassed 17 wins this season, Bothamley has already more than doubled the number of first-place finishes he had in the previous three years.
A career highlight for Bothamley was winning the Great Northern Hurdles in 2009.
The 4190-metre race is one of New Zealand’s most prestigious horse racing events, with a first-place prize of $125,000.
On the Ellis Winsloe-trained Kidunot, Bothamley finished with the fastest time in the past 15 years — 4:47.86.
Bothamley says racing is often put in a bad spotlight, but their horses are incredibly well looked after.
His apprenticeship, which typically takes four to five years, heavily focused on equine well-being.
“They (owners) don’t pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a horse not to look after them.
“Some of these horses are better looked after than people’s family cats and dogs.”
