Apprentice Will Price has always wanted to ride the sprinter William Thomas and he will finally get his wish at Pakenham.
Not only is Price keen to partner the horse because he is a high-class galloper who has won seven races and $500,000 in stakemoney, he has an affinity for the horse because of his name.
“My name is William Thomas Price and to make it even better, William Thomas is trained by John Price,” Price said.
“With that in mind, I’ve always wanted to ride him and now I’ve got the chance.”
Last weekend at Moonee Valley, the 20 year-old rode his first city double when he was successful on frontrunner Ocean’s Thirteen and Bandersnatch.
They were two contrasting rides with Price having to dictate in front on Ocean’s Thirteen and then bide his time and wait to produce a swooping run on Bandersnatch.
“That was the best day of my riding career. The timing was great as we had aimed to use my three kilo claim in the city over summer,” Price said.
Price is preparing for his busiest weekend of city riding with 13 bookings between Friday night at Moonee Valley and Pakenham on Saturday.
He has seven rides at The Valley and six at Pakenham.
The Ballarat-based apprentice has also ridden trackwork for the McEvoys at Flemington this week and went to Cranbourne to ride in jump outs for Natalie Young and Trent Busuttin.
Price is apprenticed to Dan O’Sullivan at Ballarat and he is also mentored by his father, jockey Simon Price.
They hatched a plan for Will Price to outride his country claim, which he did in late June, before sending him to town.
Price had to be patient with few city opportunities during the spring carnival but he’s now in demand with his three-kilo claim.
Along with William Thomas in the Hanson Handicap (1200m), Price will also link with the talented Phillip Stokes-trained All Too Huiying, one of the fancies for the David Bourke Memorial Handicap (1600m) at Pakenham.
