Riding your first winner on a Saturday afternoon in Melbourne is meant to be a moment of unbridled joy.
Apprentice Thomas Stockdale would have been bubbling with delight inside after his expert all-the-way victory aboard Play Me Now (NZ) (Bernardini) over 2500 metres at Moonee Valley.
But there was nothing but agony etched on the face of the 20-year-old as he returned to scale and dismounted from the Cindy Alderson-trained four-year-old gelding in front of the grandstand.
Stockdale rode Play Me Now at 52kg which prior to Caulfield’s Boxing Day meeting two days earlier was his lightest riding weight since November 2017.
“I had to work quite hard to ride at 52kg today,” Stockdale breathlessly told Racing.com interviewer Dean Petitt post-race.
“He settled well this horse with the blinkers off. He is very one-paced so I got going early on him and he did the rest.
“I’m just happy Cindy Alderson had faith in me for this horse and I’m just glad I could get the job done.”
Play Me Now almost dislodged Stockdale but he safely returned to the winners’ enclosure and trudged onto the scales under the watchful eye of steward Rob Montgomery, dropping his saddlecloth to the ground in exhaustion.
Stockdale was called over for a photo with Play Me Now and then started his solo trek to the jockeys’ room, shuffling lethargically along Moonee Valley’s famous race as his feet negotiated the gentle uphill climb like a cyclist with two flat tyres up the Pyrenees.
He was stood down by the on-course doctor before taking his second, and final, ride for the day.
