Hours spent watching horse racing on TV can help deliver Kyle Wilson-Taylor The Quokka upset with Kiwi raider Waitak

Group 1-winning jockey Kyle Wilson-Taylor is a self-confessed racing “nerd” who is aiming to ride a Kiwi galloper to glory in the $5m The Quokka in Perth on Saturday.

Self-confessed “racing nerd” Kyle Wilson-Taylor is on the hunt for the $5 million The Quokka and says countless hours sitting in front of the television watching races are helping to drive him to a new level.

Wilson-Taylor, who broke through at Group 1 level when winning last year's Tatt’s Tiara on Palaisipan, is preparing to ride Kiwi invader Waitak in the second edition of the rich Quokka slot race on Saturday.

Queenslander Wilson-Taylor has never ridden in Perth before – he has only been to Western Australia once on a holiday with his fiancee and fellow Brisbane rider Angela Jones.

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But, as usual, he will leave no stone unturned in a fastidious preparation for the richest race he has ever ridden in.

“I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to racing and I love watching racing and I watch races wherever they are,” Wilson-Taylor said.

“I do it to improve myself and also because I am very passionate about the sport.

“I want to be a world-class rider and I think you have got to have that level of obsession to continue to improve.

“When I get home on a Saturday from riding in Brisbane, the Perth races are still going and I keep a good eye on them.”

Wilson-Taylor has never ridden in a $5m race before and got the chance due to a foundation set during last year’s Queensland winter carnival.

The young hoop established a working relationship with ace New Zealand trainers Andrew Scott and Lance O’Sullivan, which last month saw him head over the ditch and ride Grail Seeker to victory in the Group 2 Wellington Guineas.

Scott and O’Sullivan have called up Wilson-Taylor again for the mission on Waitak.

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Two starts ago, Waitak stormed home from last to score an astonishing win in the Group 1 Railway Stakes in New Zealand.

He needs to step up to another level on Saturday, taking on some of Australia’s best sprinters in The Quokka.

Wilson-Taylor feels he will need to pick his way through the field, similar to how champion jockey Damien Oliver did when famously winning his farewell ride on Munhamek in the $1.5m Gold Rush in Perth last December.

What a win in the 2024 Group 1 Railway Stakes

Waitak (Proisir) came from last to win the Group 1 Railway Stakes for the Wexford Stables and ridden by that guy Warren Kennedy

| @WexfordStables | @RichHillStud | @PukekohePark | @Ellerslie_Racespic.twitter.com/2CCBcPGKCW

— Trackside NZ (@TracksideNZ) January 1, 2024

“As a three-year-old, this horse was trained as a stayer and they brought him to Queensland to run in the Derby,” Wilson-Taylor said.

“They put him in a Group 1 sprint this campaign to see how he would go and as a prep run to build him up.

“But it turns out he is a sprinter.

“He got back to last, he was still a long way off them at the 300m and he went past them like they were nailed to the fence.

“Granted, he needs to take a big step up to challenge the Australian sprinters, but I think he can do it.

“They will be running along up front in The Quokka and he will be storming home.

“It would be nice to get a chunk of that $5 million.”

Waitak, who has drawn barrier 10, is a $34 chance in TAB’s latest markets on The Quokka.

Originally published as Hours spent watching horse racing on TV can help deliver Kyle Wilson-Taylor The Quokka upset with Kiwi raider Waitak