By Chris Roots
Wizard of Odds: Live Odds, Form and Alerts for all Racing
Lauri Wray loves horses but her passion for racing has caused her heartache and battered her body.
Persistence pays off: Lauri Wray has bounced back from several challenging situations as both a jockey and trainer.Credit: Luke Fuda
However, she keeps bouncing back and, in Allez Chival, she has a horse that has taken her back to the Sydney stage as a trainer where she rode with success.
"I never thought I would have a Randwick runner as a trainer. I rode eight winners in the city but this is a lot different," Wray said.
Wray was a mature-age apprentice jockey, but her battle with weight finished that career in 2012 in rather dramatic circumstances.
"I would walk around at 56-57kilos and get down to 53-54 to ride. I was constantly wasting and it was hurting my body," she said.
"The final straw was when I fell off one going to the barriers at Queanbeyan because I was so weak. That was at the end of 2012.
"I didn't know what was happening to me and it took going to a few different doctors to find out I adrenal exhaustion."
The syndrome is caused by stress that sees the adrenal glands act below the necessary level. For Wray it meant more than three months in bed and there was only one thing to do while recovering.
"I bought Allez Chival during that time because I wanted to have a horse," Wray said. "I was depressed and to have a horse gave me something to look forward too.
"He was advertised for lease but I wanted to buy him so I paid four, five, or six grand for him – I can't really remember."
Once Wray recovered she took out a trainer's licence and had a couple of horses in work. She put on weight and put her riding days behind her, but stayed in the industry as a trackwork rider with a side business as a trainer.
"It's been a while since I got on the scales but I would be in the mid-to-high 60s now," she said. "I still ride work for Joe Pride and then I take my bloke out."
Pride will not have a runner in the last race at Randwick, where Allez Chival will shoot for four in a row and Wray's first city win but he will be there to cheer him home.
"There is no harder worker than Lauri and she just has a passion for horses," Pride said. "What she has done with that horse shows her talent.
"She is very tough as well. She was back at work only a few weeks after hitting the deck earlier this year."
That was because of Allez Chival "can be a real cow", according to Wray.
"She bucked me off and I broke four of my ribs, fractured by shoulder blade and had some fractures to my back," Wray said.
"I had to get back to ride her, so I was back on my feet as quick as possible."
Wray doesn't like anyone else getting on her horse, because she can prove hard to ride, so a spell was in order.
Once Wray was back on board, Allez Chival added he second win at Goulburn before scoring a couple of times at Kembla Grange. It earned her a crack at Randwick.
The training routine for get Allez Chival is different because of Wray's commitments and the mare's attitude. She generally goes out in the late morning at Warwick Farm, with good reason.
"She doesn't like other horses. Working for Joe, I usually finish about 7.30 and then take her out when it is quieter," Wray said.
"We go out the back on the polo fields and she loves it out there. She is only on the track when she gallops.
"She only really likes one horse, a pony that my friend Jessie Whipp has. They have buddied up and it comes to the races with her and keeps her calm. She is happy when she is around."
Allez Chival has won more than $45,000 in stakes and a win on Saturday would double her career earnings.
It has been far from a bank account-boosting investment for Wray so far, but Allez Chival has given her so much more and is now starting to pay her way.
"It is expensive to keep a horse and my brother has helped me out with her," Wray said. "She has more than paid her way in the past couple of months.
"She just keeps surprising me. Every time I ask her to step up she does and I have to say I never thought I would have a runner in Sydney.
"She has exceeded my expectations and I hoping she will keep doing it on Saturday."
