Over the past few weeks, apprentice Andrew Adkins has made an impression on Sydney racing as he begins to forge his way in the big league.
Perhaps his most important step came on Saturday when he rode his first metropolitan winner for his new master, Ron Quinton.
Under instructions from the former champion jockey, Adkins brought the appropriately named Boss Lane along the inside of the Randwick track in the Summer Sprint (1000m) while most others were steering wide on the soft ground.
Boss Lane ($3.50) went past race leader Gojo Mimo ($6.50) to win by two lengths.
“We had a bit of a plan to go back to the fence,” Quinton said.
“He loves to see the rail this horse. He seems to race a lot truer.
“He’s won five at Randwick and two at Canterbury. Not many horses can boast that record.”
The tactic appeared to be the right one for stablemate Magical Stance in the National Farmers Federation (1600m) only for country horse Piamimi to edge him out by a half head.
“I thought he had it,” Quinton said.
The Greg Bennett-trained Piamimi was ridden by another emerging apprentice, Adam Sewell, giving the 20-year-old his first city winner.
“It’s my first ride at Randwick and it’s great that it is for my boss,” Sewell said.
“He is giving me a lot of opportunities.”
While the two are beginning their Sydney careers, last season’s premier apprentice Winona Costin continued to show the way with a winning double for her bosses, Peter and Paul Snowden.
She worked hard to get Snippets Land home by a short neck in the Global Independent (1600m) but had a much easier time on Roaring To Win who scored a 2-3/4 length victory in the Pintang Cup (1400m).
The four-year-old is owned by Trevor Stuckey and Penny Yan who also raced Group One-winning stablemate Shooting To Win.
“He’s lightly raced and he’s not a stakes horse but there are some more races for him,” Peter Snowden said.
“That was an impressive win.”
