Jason Laking, a jockey from Canterbury, has always wanted to compete in the Group 1 New Zealand Derby (2400 metres), and on Saturday at Te Rapa, he will finally have the chance to do so. On Saturday, Laking was scheduled to ride at Wingatui, but after Craig Zackey, the rider who was scheduled to go there, returned to his native South Africa, Wexford Stables urged Laking to head north and ride Waitak. “This will be my first ride in the Derby. It has been a lifetime thing that I have always wanted to do and I am grateful just to be there,” Laking said. “I was meant to be riding at Dunedin and then I got the chance to have a ride (in the Derby).[...]