The next generation of jockeys has arrived with three apprentices already challenging the norm with the excitement of further development to come this season.
Apprentices rode half the card on The Gong day at Kembla Grange. It’s not really surprising, however, as Tyler Schiller, Dylan Gibbons and Zac Lloyd all sit in the top six in Sydney’s jockey premiership after nearly four months of the season, something that hasn’t happened this century.
Champion apprentice Tyler Schiller is third on the Sydney’s jockeys premiership leading the next generation of riders.Credit:Getty
With leaders James McDonald and Hugh Bowman riding in Hong Kong on the weekend — and in Bowman’s case for another couple of months — Schiller, Gibbons and Lloyd are going to get opportunities to showcase their talent like few before them.
Gibbons has been hyped as the next gun apprentice, but even winning this season’s apprentices’ Sydney title is going to be difficult for him. He claims two kilograms for now, but his bigger body counts him out of lighter rides.
Chief among challengers is defending champion Schiller, who only has nine wins left to outride his claim in town after another double at Kembla continued his run of winning at every metropolitan meeting in November.
Schiller, who has moved to third on the overall premiership, could outride his claim by Christmas. He is riding winners at 15 per cent in town, a strike-rate only bettered by McDonald, Bowman, the underrated Josh Parr and Godolphin’s apprentice Lloyd.
“His 1-1/2 kilo claim is the biggest advantage in Sydney racing at the moment,” Schiller’s master Mark Newnham said. “He is riding like a senior.”
Schiller comes out of his time in April and if he is a chance to win the apprentice title will extend it to the end of the season.
Only Bowman, Tye Angland and Tommy Berry have ridden more than 50 winners for a season in Sydney as apprentices this century, but all three of these exciting kids could get closer to that mark in 2022-23.
Dylan GibbonsCredit:Getty
Lloyd, who arrived in Sydney earlier in the year without fanfare, is developing quickly and has already earned the trust of James Cummings and his team, for whom he rode a double for in the Godolphin blue at Kembla.
But this week, the three-kilo claimer showed the ability to listen and learn quickly when he makes mistakes.
He was beaten on Airman as an odds-on favourite at Rosehill on Wednesday, where he was indecisive early. That earned a rebuke from the Hawkes stable, who are also using him regularly.
Team Hawkes are known as hard but fair markers and those who stick it out with them become better riders and people – Darren Beadman and Tommy Berry being two examples.
Lloyd was given the chance to ride Wild Planet in The Gong, and even though he finished fourth the lesson was learnt from a few days earlier.
On Airman he jumped quickly and couldn’t decide whether to take a sit or lead for a couple of hundred metres. He was caught out wide before working hard to find the front, which cost him at the end of the race.
In The Gong on Wild Planet, albeit an outsider, he jumped well and was positive taking the lead to the surprise of many, but his balance and timing gave the old warrior his chance to pick up a good cheque for fourth.
Lloyd is going to make mistakes, but that’s why he still has a three-kilo claim. He rides light and his development in the next six months will be a highlight of Sydney racing.
Schiller has 21 wins for the season already, while Gibbons and Lloyd are equal on 16 with their best ahead of them. It will be an exciting race for the junior rider title.
Hong Kong retiree Sunshine Rising ready for Festival return
Mark Newnham has had success with Hong Kong retiree Joyful Fortune this spring, including a run in The Everest, and is looking forward to another comeback horse appearing in the Festival Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday.
Nine-year-old Sunshine Rising arrives from Hong Kong with better credentials than Joyful Fortune. He competed in the racing mecca as Rise High beating Beauty Generation and running third in the Hong Kong International Cup to Win Bright and Magic Wand three years ago.
A tendon injury finished his time in Hong Kong, but he has shown signs of recovery and after being put into work in New Zealand he joined Newnham.
“He a very good horse but he’s nine,” Newnham said. “We will carry topweight in the Festival on his form over there and we will see how he goes. He has done the same tendon twice but you wouldn’t know it.
“The tendon has been scanned twice, firstly in New Zealand and then here after he trialled, but you are always cautious as you put more pressure on them leading into getting back to the races.
“He is moving as well as anything in my stable, and it will be interesting where he fits in heading toward the Ingham.”
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