Ten years ago Daniel Stackhouse, a young schoolboy from Ashburton near Christchurch on the South Island, made one of his most important career-changing decisions.

After years of relishing equestrian riding in his district, he decided to make the quantum leap from diligently helping a horse over a jump to being a jockey in command of some very fast thoroughbreds in Australia.

Admitting to a touch of homesickness when he first landed in the racing hub of Caulfield in Victoria, Stackhouse was fortunate as he became indentured to the powerful Peter Moody stable.

Together with another Kiwi jockey, Linda Meech, the pair worked night and day – a feature that Moody always pointed out when either of them was successful.

But Stackhouse still says, a decade on, that Moody was not only a great horseman but a fair man and a good mentor.

“It was a big stable then and there were plenty of rides but plenty of hard work as well,” Stackhouse said.

“I knew this, and I was under no illusion that breaking into the Australian ranks would be difficult.  But I put my head down and travelled the state once Peter was suspended five years ago.”

On Tuesday, Daniel Stackhouse will have his second ride in the Melbourne Cup.  He’s naturally excited at the prospect of being a part of a race that New Zealander’s embrace.  And rightfully so as their owners, trainers, jockeys, and breeders have such a rich history in the 3200-metre race. 

Last year, Stackhouse snared his first ride in the event and that was on The Chosen One for the training partnership of Murray Bake and Andrew Forsman. The Chosen One was a chance of being the winner but for lacking the last-minute dash and finished fourth.

“This was an unbelievable thrill.  I can’t tell you what it was like when the field straightened up and I was a live chance.  You know, the sensation would have been even greater had there been a crowd there,” Stackhouse said.

“I went home to New Zealand earlier this year and I wore it like a badge of honour.  Not only had I ridden in the race but I‘d been highly competitive in it.

“It was just so flattering to have people come up to you and ask you all about it and commend me on what I did,” he said.

Stackhouse is disappointed he won’t be on The Chosen One this year as Western Australian-born rider Damian Lane has taken that position.

However, a late-night call from Gai Waterhouse sees the Kiwi on her stayer Knights Order.  A lesser chance than The Chosen One but Stackhouse is not arguing.

The jockey criss-crosses Victoria on most days.  If he’s not riding work at Cranbourne, or riding at Sale, or going to the other end of the state to ride for the powerful Hayes stable in Euroa, he’s home studying the form for his rides the next day.

It’s always been the Kiwi way.  Gary Willetts arrived in Australia in the 1970s he was the lamplighter that showed that travel to any part of the state was the only way to eke out a living.

Daniel Stackhouse, since jumping over those logs in the early 2000s, has indeed come a long way as next Tuesday he will be making his way to the barrier in another Melbourne Cup, hoping to go one better for Australia’s first lady of racing.