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Nicholas checking off goals in standout season
Joshua Smith, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk • May 5th, 2026 2:28 pm
Elen Nicholas was all smiles after recording her 50th win of the season aboard Lucky Dice at Woodville last week | Photo: Peter Rubery (Race Images)
Cambridge apprentice jockey Elen Nicholas has been riding in New Zealand for the last nine seasons, but it hasn’t been until the last 12 months that she has been able to string together a decent amount of time in the saddle.
That has shown in her results, with the Welsh native enjoying her best season, with 51 wins to date, including two at stakes level, with nearly $1.8 million in earnings, more than tripling her previous best term.
Last Saturday at Te Rapa she marked a full year of being injury-free, having previously been sidelined for well over a year after sustaining several injuries from a racefall, and she thought she may never return to the saddle on raceday.
“My partner, Shaun Phelan, had a word with me (after the fall) and said if I thought about going back riding I was to give it at least 12 months before making any decision,” Nicholas said.
“When the 12 months was up, I started to think about it more and I really missed riding and my body felt good, so I started making a noise about coming back riding.
“Shaun’s initial reaction was ‘absolutely not’, but I gradually wore him down and I am really glad that I did come back riding because I think if your body is well and your brain still wants to do it, you will probably regret it if you didn’t.”
After feeling her way back into the groove of raceday riding late last season, Nicholas laid out three goals she wanted to achieve at the start of this season – win her 100th race, win her first stakes race, and ride out her claim.
She achieved the first goal in September last year when partnering Our Time Keeper to victory at New Plymouth, and she marked off the second two months later aboard the Janelle Millar-trained Final Return in the Gr.3 Counties Cup (2100m).
By this time Nicholas was on a roll and had firmly established herself in the top 10 on the National Jockeys’ Premiership, and she continued her golden run when doubling her stakes tally when victorious aboard the Clinton Isdale-trained Knights Realm in the Gr.3 Taranaki Cup (1800m) in January.
It was a full circle moment for the pair, who were involved in the race fall that sidelined Nicholas for over a year.
Nicholas continued her upward trajectory and last week recorded her 50th win of the season before achieving her final goal of out riding her claim when victorious aboard the Barbara Kennedy-trained Fleeting Glimpse at Pukekohe on Friday.
Nicholas has been pinching herself all season.
“It has definitely been my best season and I am very proud of being able to achieve what I have,” she said. “I didn’t really believe I would out ride my claim before my time was up, so that was pretty cool.
“At Te Rapa (on Saturday) that was a whole 12 months of raceday riding, which I have never been able to do before because I have constantly been injured.
“I would be riding for three months and then out for six months, which has been really annoying and frustrating, but it is nice to finally be able to have some consistency with my riding, and it is nice to have trainers supporting me.”
Nicholas is enjoying her success and is hoping that continues now that she no longer has her claim.
“I am just hanging in there in the top 10 (of the jockeys’ premiership) and it is something I am keen on trying to keep,” Nicholas said. “It is pretty cool to be right up there through the season and to be second on the apprentice premiership.”
Apprentice premiership leader Amber Riddell has extended her lead to 11 wins in recent weeks, and while Nicholas is realistic about her prospects of chasing down that lead by season’s end, she is still on the hunt and said she is enjoying the friendly rivalry in the process.
“If it (apprentice premiership win) happens it happens, and if it doesn’t it is not the end of the world,” Nicholas said. “The first half of the season was a pinch me moment that I was back riding and to be in the running for the apprentice premiership was not a realistic goal until the last few months.
“With it being less than three months until the end of the season, it would be quite hard to catch Amber but never say never.
“She is quite inspirational in how hard she works and how much she travels. She is such a great person and a good rider as well, so it is good to have a healthy rivalry between us.”
Nicholas has been just as busy, travelling the length and breadth of the country, which she said she is enjoying.
“I am doing a lot of travel, but it is nice because I get to see a lot of the country,” she said. “Even the scenery on a nice day driving down to Otaki or New Plymouth, it is enjoyable and it is great to see the trainers from the CD and South Island.”
While Nicholas has outridden her claim, with the amount of time she has spent on the sidelines, she still has nearly 18 months left in her apprenticeship, and she said she will resist joining the senior ranks as her apprentice tag may open opportunities to fulfil her ambitions of travelling.
“I officially finish in October 2027,” she said. “I am going to leave it (becoming a senior jockey) for now because it leaves the option open to travel.
“I know Amber went to Eagle Farm recently and was able to claim three (kilos) and whether I could get an opportunity claiming overseas or not is something I will leave open by remaining an apprentice rather than changing over into a senior.
“It is a huge dream of mine to travel and experience a bit more of the world. I love horse riding and racing so what better way to do it if I was lucky enough to get an opportunity like that.”
While Australia is an obvious jurisdiction to further her experience, Nicholas said she would also love to go back home to the United Kingdom on a working holiday.
“I have floated the idea of going back home and working for a flat stable,” she said. “But how my plan works in the UK I have got no idea. It is something that I have thought about because it would be quite nice to visit home and interlink something I have been doing out here.”
Meanwhile, Nicholas said her focus remains in New Zealand, where she is hoping to end the season on a high.
“I am really hoping that I can keep up the consistency and the relationships that I have built,” she said. “I am hopeful that I can continue riding the horses I have been riding when I had that one-kilo claim. I hope it is a smooth transition.”
Nicholas will bid to add to her season tally at Ellerslie on Wednesday where she has a handful of rides.
