Brooke Sweeney, with one of her father’s horses, rode a winning double at Corowa. Pictures: MATTHEW SMITHWICK
Claiming apprentice Carryn Downie scores aboard the Jim Cerchi Jnr-trained Demeanour at Corowa.
EMERGING apprentice Brooke Sweeney enjoyed the biggest day of her short career in the saddle after landing a winning double at Corowa on Saturday.
Sweeney combined with her father, Phil, to score aboard Lingering before also guiding the James Fraser-trained Shivoo to victory.
The 18-year-old rode her first winner at Towong in December after gaining her jockey’s licence in November.
In a promising start to her career, Sweeney has now notched four winners from 22 rides.
The four-kilogram claiming apprentice is indentured to Wangaratta trainer John Ledger.
Sweeney’s father said it was a proud moment for the stable.
“It was the first time she had ridden a winner for me and it’s good to get the monkey off our back,” Phil said.
“She has still got a lot to learn but to get four winners from 20-odd rides is a promising start.
“I wanted her to finish school before she started riding.
“It was good of James to give her an opportunity.
“Shivoo is a quick front-running horse and the type of horse she needs to be on.
“To be able to claim four kilograms is a huge advantage.”
Lingering is only a recent addition to the Sweeney stable and was formerly trained at Mansfield by Gerald Egan.
It was the four-year-old gelding’s first win from 12-career starts.
“I was at the Albury races and Gerald said ‘this horse needs to go somewhere else and you need a horse like him’,” he said.
“So I leased the horse mainly for Brooke to ride because he is a quiet horse and easy to ride.”
Phil also enjoyed a double when Patient Plover broke through for her first career win with Brodie Loy aboard.
Patient Plover scored her first victory from her first start for the Sweeney stable after being formerly trained by Samantha McDonald.
“It’s funny how things work out because I tried to buy Patient Plover as a yearling,” he said.
“I was the losing bidder but she has ended back at the stable.
“She is only lightly raced and pretty quick and I think she should be able to win bigger races.”