GRAHAM IS TAKING THE 2023/24 SEASON BY STORM

By Graham Potter | Monday, December 11, 2023

Apprentice Cejay Graham has taken the 2023/24 Brisbane Metropolitan racing season by storm ... much as Angela Jones did the last season.

Jones’ stellar season resulted in a final total of 79 Metropolitan winners, a third place in the overall Brisbane Metropolitan Jockeys’ Premiership and a runaway win in the Brisbane Metropolitan Apprenticeship Jockeys’ Premiership.

Four and a half months into the new season and Graham currently sits on a total of thirty Metropolitan winners, is in third place in the overall Brisbane Metropolitan Jockey’s Premiership and currently holds a comfortable lead in the Brisbane Metropolitan Apprenticeship Jockeys’ Premiership.

And while everyone is obviously an individual in their own right with their different traits, the like-for-like comparison between Graham and Jones does not end there.

Their polite, friendly and, above all, ‘feet on the ground’ professional demeanour ... never getting ahead of themselves ... is a cornerstone of their makeup, a combination that endears them to connections.

But, of course, they have to be able to ride well for connections to keep the faith ... and, although both are still very much on a learning curve path, they are doing just that.

Graham rode yet another Metropolitan double at Eagle Farm on Saturday ... something she has been making a habit of this season ... striking with Weigall Tiger (for a fourth win in-a-row for this horse/rider combination) and Sailor’s Secret, both trained by Kelly Schweida.

Her momentum just keeps building.

Just how far Graham can take things this season remains to be seen, but, in theory those 79 wins that Jones achieved in the 2022/23 season remains a viable target.

To put that total in perspective, 79 winners would have won the outright Brisbane Metropolitan Jockey’s Premiership in each of the four previous seasons.

And no, it is not a competition and there is no pressure at all for Graham to do that. She is already doing brilliantly.

The point is that these exceptional statistics highlight just how fortunate racing in Queensland is to have two such talented, young riders coming through the riding ranks, particularly at a time when the Brisbane Jockey room is arguably at the strongest it has been in many years.

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