Champion apprentice Zac Lloyd has proven a capable fill in for Sydney’s leading jockey James McDonald, answering a late call-up to guide Tiz Invincible to a dynamic win in the Group 2 Furious Stakes at Randwick.
McDonald injured his ankle in a race day mishap at the Wyong Cup meeting and while he was able to fulfil some of his bookings on Saturday, his restricted preparations meant he could not make his rides at 56kg and under.
Lloyd was called upon to replace McDonald aboard Tiz Invincible and the filly’s co-trainer Ciaron Maher said while late rider changes were never perfect, he had absolute faith in the young star’s ability to get the job done.
“He actually rode her trackwork once and he’s a good man Zac, he’s riding in great form,” Maher said.
“It’s not ideal, but I wasn’t concerned.”
Lloyd camped Tiz Invincible ($4.60) off the speed before launching down the outside in the straight and the filly attacked the line with gusto to win the Furious Stakes (1200m) by three-quarters of a length over Kimochi ($4.20) with Mumbai Muse ($11) another neck away third.
The winner is now likely to proceed to the remaining two races in the Princess Series, the Tea Rose Stakes (1400m) at Randwick in two weeks and Group 1 Flight Stakes (1600m) at the same venue a fortnight later.
However, that plan isn’t set in stone with Maher happy to leave the door ajar for Tiz Invincible to possibly divert to the $1 million Golden Rose (1400m) on September 23.
“We’ll sit down and work out how good she actually went and how god she needs to be to win that sort of race,” Maher said.
“But certainly timing-wise it would be OK.”
Autumn Ballet started a $3.70 Unibet favourite and while she eventually made ground to finish eighth, jockey Adam Hyeronimus said her chances were cruelled when she was tardy to jump.
“She just blew the start and it was race over for her,” Hyeronimus said.