Noel Harris is one of New Zealand's top
jockeys and the longest serving spending
over 40 years in the saddle.
Harris was first apprenticed in the early
70's to his father, legendary trainer, Jock
Harris. Racing was in the family and Harris
was 15 when he rode his first race and
picked up his first win in May 1970, riding
Phar Lace at Foxton. He won the New Zealand
jockeys' premiership as an 18-year-old
apprentice in the 1972-73 season, sharing
the title with David Peake.
He gained a deal of notoriety amongst the
unforgiving Australian public early in his
career for his ride on Glengowan in the 1973
Melbourne Cup
when he was
labelled a 'certainty beaten'.
Since then, however, he has stamped
his mark in New Zealand, Australia
and Asia, picking up some of the
biggest prizes in racing. Harris is
one of only five Kiwi jockeys -
alongside Peake, Bill Skelton, Lance
O'Sullivan and David Walsh - to ride
more than 2000 race winners, and he
regularly features among the top
stakes earning jockeys each season.
He has won Premierships in New
Zealand and Singapore and scored
memorable wins in races like the Cox
Plate in Australia and the Auckland
and Wellington Cup, winning more
than $30 million in stakes for the
owners of the horses he has ridden.
Noel Harris' biography, Harry, The
Ride of my Life, by Wally O'Hearn,
was published in 2012.
