Shaun steps up to senior ranks
Shaun McKay has been a winner since his earliest days as a jockey, complete with an apprentice premiership along the way.
Recently the 21-year-old bridged the gap to senior ranks with an ideal start to the next stage of his career.
At the Awapuni race meeting earlier this month he rode Rock ‘N’ Affair to an upset win in his first race ride after signing off his apprenticeship papers.
But for a delay in completing that paperwork, Shaun would have made the transition in even more ideal circumstances.
He had been tentatively booked to ride Wordofmouth, trained by his father Peter, at New Plymouth the day before, but the frustrating delay meant he had to watch from the sideline as Troy Harris brought the O’Reilly gelding home.
‘‘It would have been good to get my first win as a fully-fledged jockey on a horse trained by Dad, but it wasn’t to be,’’ Shaun said.
‘‘Still, it was a great feeling to still nail it in the first ride out of my apprenticeship.
Shaun rode three winners in his 2013-14 debut season, then improved in his first full season for a tally of 47 and capped that with 70 wins and the apprentice jockeys’ premiership in 2015-16.
His tally at the end of his apprenticeship stood at 168 wins, meaning the last 68 were achieved without the benefit of a weight claim.
To give them a chance of competing against more experienced jockeys, apprentices are able to ride with a claim to reduce the weight carried by their raceday mounts.
On a graduated scale, that initial four-kilo claim reduces to zero once the apprentice has ridden 100 winners, which is where Shaun McKay found himself at the of the 2015-16 season.
One of the last wins of his apprenticeship came on Ocean Emperor in the Gr. 2 Japan Trophy, proving that he is a match for his more experienced rivals.
Owner Gary Hennessey will be looking to McKay to extend his success of 16 wins and 30 placings from 212 starts as he is confirmed to ride Sha Tin Sunday in 1200m race 3 at Matamata on April 18.