It may not have the status of a Stakes race, but Rose Hammond had been looking forward to riding in an apprentices’ only race at Flemington all week.
The RMBL Investments Rising Stars Final (1600m) at Flemington on Saturday was for apprentice riders only after a series of races held throughout country Victoria throughout the season.
While Hammond could not land a late knock-out blow and win the series, she was determined to land the race at headquarters and secure her first win at Flemington.
Riding the Luke Oliver-trained Lake Vostok ($9), Hammond guided the gelding to a half-length win over Jazz Affair ($6.50) with Cindy Falls ($7) a short-neck away third.
“I’ve been looking forward to this ride all week,” Hammond said.
“We had a really light weight which was to her benefit especially late in the race.
“I went through her replays and found when she was rushed early, she was a bit one-paced late and with Luke’s instructions I was happy to jump, let her relax and be happy and let her hit the line.
“It’s really exciting to have something like this for all the apprentices around.
“I wasn’t in the running with the rankings this year, but my goal was to win this race. I was lucky enough to get this ride and hopefully I can keep the momentum going.”
Hammond made a late play and ended the series in a dead-heat for second with Sarah Field, two points shy of series winner Tom Prebble.
However, the series did not end well for Prebble who trailed the field home abord the Chris Waller-trained Sound It Out but joins Group 1 winning jockeys Jye McNeil and Ethan Brown as a series winner.
“I’m not happy finishing out of the points,” Prebble said.
“But I’m very thankful for RMBL for putting on the series and to my masters Patrick and Michelle Payne for putting me on horses throughout the series and getting a couple of winners.
“Some of these other apprentices had not ridden at Flemington before, so seeing them have their first experience of riding here is pretty cool.
“Hopefully I can use it as a springboard as well (like Brown and McNeil) and if I can be half as good as those names, I will be pretty happy.”
