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By Julieanne Horsman

Jockey Mathew Cahill wasn’t awake for the New Year’s Eve fireworks but he bid farewell to 2016 and welcomed 2017 with a bang.

The quiet achiever notched four wins in three race meetings, including a metropolitan victory and two major country features.

His winning streak started at Canterbury Park in Sydney on 31 December, saluting aboard Atom Eve in the Class 3 TAB Highway Handicap (1250m).

The Norm Gardner-trained mare flashed down the outside to snatch victory in the shadow of the winning post, Cahill pushing her right to the line.

“Norm told me to ride her a bit quieter to see if she would run 1400m as he has The Championships in mind,” Cahill said.

“She is a nice filly and did really well to win from that far back.”

Less than 24 hours later he kicked home the first of two winners at Gilgandra.

Nicktock led all the way to win the Len Kelly Memorial Plate (1100m) by three lengths.

Cahill then completed the double guiding Lancelot to a hard-fought victory in the Gilgandra Cup (1600m).

It was the second time he and trainer Max Crockett teamed up to claim the Cup, having been victorious with Dreamwinner in 2012.

“Lancelot is a grand old campaigner,” Cahill said.

“I rode him last year and he didn’t perform, but this time he was in great shape and did really well to get home under the weight (61kgs) he was carrying.”

Cahill then headed south to Moruya where he took out the feature race, the Club Narooma Cup (1425m) aboard Marquee.

The gelding, trained by rising star Luke Pepper, flew home up the middle, resisting late challenges to win by a length.

“The horse was well prepared and put in a strong last 50m,” Cahill said.

“The big holiday crowd at Moruya created a great atmosphere and it was a huge thrill to ride in front of them.”

In just 72 hours Cahill earned $94,880 in prize money for connections and travelled 2055kms to do it.

“You put in the hard work and it’s very satisfying to get results,” Cahill said.

“The driving is draining but I am lucky to have my girlfriend travel with me a lot of the time.”

Cahill is currently in second place on the NSW Country Jockeys Premiership behind Rachel Murray.

He is 6th in the Overall NSW Jockey Premiership which is led by Brenton Avdulla.

Missed Cahill's impressive wins? Watch the replays by clicking the links below.

Canterbury Park 31 December 2016

Gilgandra 1 January 2017

Moruya 2 January 2017