Wanganui jockey Lisa Allpress is determined to make her mark on her first visit to England in this weekend's Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup at Ascot.
However, the champion New Zealand jockey in 2011-12 is no stranger to international competition and finished third in the recent Selangor Turf Club Australasian Bloodstock International Jockeys' Championship in Malaysia.
"Not to taking anything away at all from the Malaysian competition, the Shergar Cup is a massive step up - another level - and I am really looking forward to it," Allpress said. "My husband and I walked the track at Ascot this morning [Thursday]. It does not look as daunting and scary when you walk out there as it does on video. We have been videoing all the races from England ahead of the Shergar Cup. We walked the round course with Chris Stickels (Ascot's clerk of the course) and then the straight course.
"I want to win on Saturday. I don't think there is any point putting silks on if you wish to run second or third."
In the girls' team with her on Saturday are American star Rosie Napravnik and Cathy Gannon, who has made her name in England after starting out in Ireland.
"Luckily, two weeks ago in New Zealand, there was a documentary on 60 Minutes about Napravnik which was very interesting," Allpress said. "There is an apprentice in New Zealand called Samantha Wynne and she knows Cathy Gannon. So I have had previews of my two team-mates, as well as just meeting them."
As well as this first trip to the UK, the 38-year-old will begin a three-month riding stint in Singapore on September 1st and is taking all her family there - husband Karl and children Angus (five) and Josh (eight).
She arrived in England a week ago and spent two mornings with Godolphin in Newmarket at the start of this week. "It was an amazing experience. Newmarket is like a dream world for horses - beautiful. I absolutely loved it."
Allpress served her apprenticeship with Kevin Gray, when he was based at Waverley, and returned to south Taranaki five years ago after a stint at Matamata.
"I have not looked back since," she said. "I whacked away as an apprentice - I wasn't a natural but I worked hard. I rode over 100 winners then, the third best of my time. I had a successful apprenticeship without setting the world alight. We moved back to Taranaki and I went from being 20th in the jockeys' list to the top four, which I have been in for the last five years.
"Women are making their mark in New Zealand racing. It has been tough and not just on the track - for women in racing in general - whether they are presenters, journalists, administrators or whatever. I go and do my job and the proof is the results.
"I aspire to being a champion jockey in another country. I will just see how I get on in Singapore for three months and, if things are going well, I would like to extend my contract.
"I can always go home, but I don't know how much longer I will keep riding there. If I go back, it will be with the aim of winning more Group One races rather than the premiership again.
"No way would I want to be a trainer. We have two boys so I have a very full-on life and the children always come first."NZ Racing Desk