ZAC LLOYD - TAKING SYDNEY BY STORM

By Graham Potter | Friday, April 21, 2023

Even a cursory glance at the Sky racing television channel in recent times would have put you onto the fact that apprentice Zac Lloyd is tracking very well.

Drill down a bit deeper and you might be surprised at just how well the young man is doing. Using adjectives like outstanding and exceptional to describe his rapid rate of progress would not be out of place ... particularly as Lloyd is, in theory at least, still very much on a learning curve in terms of being in the early stages of honing his skills.

Afterall, it was only twenty-nine months ago that Lloyd made his race riding debut at Dalby on November 27, 2020, winning on his first ride aboard the odds-on favourite Satine by 7.50 lengths to get his career off to a flying start, since which time his pace has hardly slackened.

Fast forward to the present time and consider these statistics.

Lloyd current sits in second place on the Sydney Jockey’s Premiership on 53 wins. While that does leave him well adrift of the imperious James McDonald (81-53wins), that large deficit can, in part, be explained by the fact that Lloyd has had no less than 164 rides less than his illustrious counterpart so far this season.

Lloyd currently has a better winning strike-rate percentage than the man who last year was crowned the Longines World’s Best Jockey. That’s 22.50 percent to McDonald’s 20.20 percent.

Apart from McDonald and Nash Rawiller (17.40 percent), Lloyd’s winning strike-rate comes in a full 10.00 percent better than eight of the other riders in the top ten on the Sydney Jockey’s Premiership ladder.

And as to his current run of hot form, in the last sixteen days Lloyd has ridden thirteen winners, including a double at Wyong yesterday, a double at Warwick Farm on Wednesday, a double at Randwick last Saturday, a double at Hawksbury last Thursday, a win at Newcastle last Wednesday and ... wait for it, four winners at Warwick Farm last Monday.

That is a hot streak by anyone’s standards.

The trainers who have used Lloyd over his last fifty rides tells its own story.

Being offered rides for James Cummings, Anthony Cummings, Chris Waller, John Sargent, Team Hawkes and Team Snowden obviously does open the door to opportunity, but it is what a jockey makes of those opportunities is what counts.

Lloyd has certainly made them count, notably when landing his biggest win to date in the Group 2 Millie Fox Stakes aboard Electric Girl for the Michael, Wayne and John Hawkes training partnership.

Keeping your feet on the ground when success and, as importantly, the trappings of success (which can bring some associated distractions) comes early, can become a difficult balancing act if it is not well managed.

Here again, Lloyd seems to have things under control ... which stands as a testament to the strong support he receives from his family, particularly father Jeff who fills a dual role as Lloyd’s manager/mentor.

There are obviously still plenty of steps to climb on his career path but, in a game where nothing is ever guaranteed, Zac Lloyd is doing a fantastic job.

*The strength of the young riders making their presence felt on the Sydney riding scene is emphasised by the fact that apprentice Tyler Schiller and Dylan Gibbons fill the third and fourth places behind Lloyd on the Sydney Jockey’s Premiership with 48 and 46 winners respectively.

That’s only five and seven winners behind Lloyd, meaning that the Sydney Apprentice Jockey’s Premiership title is very much up for grabs with a little over three months of the season left to run.

Schiller and Gibbons both have one over Lloyd at this stage, having both put a Group 1 win on their CV with Schiller landing the Group 1 Galaxy in March and Gibbons winning the Sydney Cup earlier this month.

A very talented trio of young riders pushing each other to the limit while learning the intricacies of a tough profession every day courtesy having earned the right to compete within one of the most professional, capable and competitive jockey rooms around.

It’s an environment in which those who ‘want it’ can flourish.

It’s no wonder then that Lloyd, Schiller and Gibbons are all doing so well.

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