KINGSTON, Jamaica - One of the regular twists of horse racing is the rise of what is usually called the second-tier apprentices.
Normally when a new batch of apprentices begins their racing careers, let's say 20 with their claiming allowances in tow, about four or five quickly begin, to pile up the winners, for a marked separation from the pack.
When the leading pack of four or five can no longer claim, the second tier, who still carry a ‘bug’ starts to rise.
Such is the case at present with Shane Richardson and Shavon Townsend who have both been finding the winners’ enclosure.
Richardson continued to make a name among the top riders, scoring his 16th win of the season with an impressive double on Saturday, August 10, 2024. These 16 wins, place Richardson in position number six on the list of riders this year.
Richardson’s winners on Saturday included Crimson, trained by Carlton Cunningham, in the second race; and Sheboom, trained by Alroy Watson, in the sixth race.
Eight-year-old bay gelding Crimson (Nuclear Wayne – Sarah Barracuda) ran out an easy seven-length winner in the three-year-old and upward Claiming ($750,000-$600,000) event going 7 ½ furlongs.
Crimson won ahead of Anonymous (Shane Ellis) and Tigray Express (Tevin Foster) in a time of 1:36.4 (25.0 x 49.1 x 1:16.3 x 1:30.0).
Townsend is in tenth place (12 wins) on the 2024 list of leading riders, and has been riding frequently for champion trainer Jason DaCosta. Townsend has ridden some notable races winning on Whisky, Golden Loyalty, Traveller’s Lodge among others recently.
The progress of these two jockeys is being watched closely.
One Response
improved indeed..its surprising what level of cofidence that cabe attained when live mounts are secured from owners and trainers,ive seen many good riders fade from the game because most of his/her rides were not good enough or non tryers