Buddy Lammas - Apprentice Jockey

There was never any question about what Buddy Lammas wanted to do when he left high school. With none of the doubts of others in his age group, he had it set in his mind that he would emulate his older brother Cameron and become a jockey. 

The elder of the two brothers who grew up in the lower North Island had left home to become an apprentice jockey with renowned mentor Jim Gibbs in Matamata. Success came readily to Cameron and all that Buddy wanted as he saw out his last couple of years of schooling was to follow suit.

“Back then I really envied Cameron,” he says. “We had ridden against each other a lot on our ponies and I couldn’t wait for when I was allowed to become a jockey too.”

The pony competition that he refers to - and which produced a string of titles for both lads as well as their older sister Melissa - formed a solid base as jockey careers unfolded. By their own admission the Lammas family was not wealthy, but parents Robert and Rosie instilled in their children a philosophy of making the best of what was available and working hard to achieve goals.

“We mostly had a bunch of mongrels to ride but we still did pretty well on them,” recalls Buddy with typical modesty. “They sure taught you how to hang on!”

True to his desires he is now apprenticed to Jim Gibbs and has set about emulating his brother on the racetrack. Before the end of his first year he had ridden more than 30 winners, including $100,000 Rotorua Cup winner Convincing in his first ride in a group-rated race.

His tally stood at 42 wins by the end of the 2004-05 season, placing him second on the national apprentice table and leading to selection as the New Zealand representative in an international apprentice series in the United Arab Emirates. The icing on the cake was riding a winner for leading owner Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al Maktoum at the Nad Al Sheba racetrack in Dubai.

After riding 32 winners in the opening months of the new season, Buddy suffered a dislocated shoulder and is currently undergoing physiotherapy in preparation for an operation that will hopefully prevent a recurrence. The 18-year-old admits that having to cool his heels on the sideline is frustrating, but at the same time he realises that there’s no option if he wants to fulfil his ambitions.

Included in his ‘to-do’ list is the race that every jockey in this corner of the world wants to win – the Melbourne Cup – as well as something quite separate from the glamour and excitement of the racetrack – farm ownership.

Back in his high school days Buddy pottered around as a stock trader when he was acting caretaker of the Levin saleyards. He would buy the odd pen of sheep or cattle, graze them on saleyard land and resell then a week or two later – invariably at a profit.

“I love working with stock and striking a good deal,” says the enterprising young man. “If I do well enough as a jockey one day I should be able to buy my own piece of land. That would be massive.”

With such an attitude, one can’t help but agree that this particular apprentice jockey is on the right path to making the most of the opportunities that present themselves.