By Jordan Gerrans
When apprentice hoop Sophie Wilcock was informed she had been selected to represent Queensland in this year’s National Apprentice Race Series, she had her fingers crossed for what track she was going to be riding at.
The 26-year-old hails from the United Kingdom and when her family first moved out to Australia, they lobbed in the Top End of the Northern Territory.
Through her school studies, Wilcock eventually got involved with the horses down at Fannie Bay in Darwin.
So, when the now Roma-based apprentice rider was advised she would be riding the Darwin leg of the NARS series for the Sunshine State – she was over the moon.
And, to eventually ride a winner in front of her earliest mentors in the racing industry, that was just a cherry on top for Wilcock.
“That was the first place I had anything to do with race horses,” Wilcock said on Monday morning after collecting a victory on Saturday afternoon.
“I did my certificate one and two in racing while I was I was finishing school up there.
“I was able to go back to the races this weekend and see people who started it all for me, they were happy to see me back there and riding this time.
“It was pretty special and then to get a winner – it topped it all off.”
Wilcock’s father was in the British Army and had his first posting as part of his move to the Australian Army in Darwin.
Trudie Clarke has long been a close advisor of Wilcock and she was the clerk of the course at Darwin’s Fannie Bay on Saturday.
She also spent time under the tutelage of trainer Chris Pollard, who had a starter at the track on Saturday, as well.
She attended Taminmin College, Humpty Doo in the NT.
Racing Queensland's Senior Apprentice Coach Shane Scriven said Wilcock showed “great dedication” by arranging to ride track work on the Saturday morning before the races for the trainers who she was riding for.
“This gave her an opportunity to ride on the track and get a feel for the tricky circumference and surface,” Scriven said.
Wilcock is apprenticed to Scott Rodgers in Roma and says there is some similarities between the sand surfaces at her home club and in Darwin.
She thinks riding track work in the morning aided her performance later that day.
“I did it to get a feel of the track and I got to meet some of the local trainers and jockeys,” Wilcock said.
“They all told me a bit about the track and I really think that was an advantage that I had gone in and rode track as well as having a look around.”