SPARE a thought for gun Goulburn jockey Shaun Guymer.
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The promising apprentice, now indentured to prominent Sydney trainer Joe Pride, trekked 2600km to Alice Springs on Monday to ride locallytrained Prognosis in the final of the National Apprentice Championship.
The journey, it seems, wasn’t worthwhile. The Prognosis- Guymer combination ran stone motherless last in the red centre.
Aimed at uniting the nation’s best apprentice jockeys in competition, the National Apprentice Series is managed by Racing NSW, who launched the campaign in 2008 for the purpose of providing opportunities for apprentices to increase their skill levels under different racing conditions interstate.
Despite the unfortunate showing, Guymer’s had a good time of it since moving to Pride’s Sydney setup. The Alice Springs gallop ended a three-week holiday of sorts.
Guymer last month registered wins at Hawkesbury and Nowra and recorded a victory on his Goulburn home turf in March. Guymer’s notched 35 wins to date this season and raced to a half-century of wins in the last 12 months alone. Guymer’s style and attitude have earned praised from trainers allround.
And while he’s refreshed after a couple of weeks away from the track, the 20-year-old is welland- truly back in the daily grind. Guymer today climbs aboard Jarrod Austin’s Yonderstar at Liverpool and backs up tomorrow with rides on Paul Messara’s Accomplishment and Jim and Greg Lee’s form gelding Blakey Boy.