Dubbo teenager aiming for dream Randwick debut with first city ride

Like many racing fans, Dubbo teenager Jacob Stiff’s greatest Randwick memory is being trackside to watch the legendary Winx win her final race in the 2019 Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

On Saturday, the apprentice jockey hopes to create his own magic moment at headquarters with victory in his first metropolitan ride.

The 19-year-old, who is apprenticed to Dubbo trainer Michael Mulholland, has ridden 57 winners in his first season and has earned the chance to pilot Michelangelo for Bathurst trainer Dean Mirfin in the 1800m Highway Plate on Saturday.

Stiff rode the former Chris Waller-trained galloper to victories at Bathurst and Hawkesbury in its first starts for Mirfin before Nash Rawiller took over when he was seventh in the group 1 Queensland Derby last start.

Stiff was excited to get another chance with Michelangelo, this time at NSW’s premier track, and to rub shoulders with champion jockeys like Rawiller and James McDonald.

“I’ve been at Randwick strapping twice for the boss and we went down there to watch Winx’s last race, just in the crowd, so it’s pretty cool to have a ride there,” Stiff said.

“It will just be cool sitting in the jockeys’ room with all those big fellas, I reckon.”

Mirfin has long had a Highway race pencilled in for Michelangelo and he has called on Stiff’s three-kilogram claim to improve his chances. The three-time winner was $9 on Thursday with a draw in seven.

“We gave him a few weeks off after the Derby and freshened him up, then he trialled at Nowra really nicely,” Mirfin said.

“We are very happy with the horse and very happy to be giving Jacob an opportunity on him. He’s a good, quiet country kid and he rides very well. He’s done nothing wrong on the horse so he deserves an opportunity.

“Coming off a Queensland Derby run and a provincial win, he does look well placed in Highway grade, so he’ll get his opportunity in a relatively small field for a Highway.”

Stiff hopes it is the first of many trips to ride in Sydney. He has wanted to be a jockey from a young age and plans to move to a provincial stable when he finishes his country claim.

“That’s the goal, to try to get down to the city,” he said.

“I’ve kind of always wanted to be a jockey. We used to do motorbike training at my boss’ house, he had a track there and we’d train there every Thursday when I was 12 or so, and that’s how I met him. He offered me a job and I kind of didn’t really leave.

“I’ve been riding horses pretty much all my life, just Pony Club and at the farm.

“We always went to the races and my pop [Graham Jones] was also a jockey.

“It’s going really well. I’ve just kept working away, trying to keep improving. I’ve been very lucky, too, just with the amount of support I’ve had from everyone putting me on.”