STABLE APPRENTICES DO STEPHEN LEE PROUD

Could it be that a small page in history was written at the proud Tweed River Jockey Club at Murwillumbah on Monday?

I won’t claim that yet as I haven’t had time to scour the record books, but I would take the odds that the feat of the Stephen Lee stable at the meeting could be the first time that a trainer has had three stable apprentices all ride winners at the same meeting ... or, at very least, that no trainer has bettered that achievement.

“Pity they were not all for me,” joked Lee, who was justifiably proud of the efforts of his three youngsters, Emily Kehoe, Josh Jones and Samuel Payne.

Jones and Kehoe’s winners gave Lee a double on the day. Payne’s winner was for the Barry Bowditch stable.

Jones was first off the mark when scoring in an armchair ride aboard Easy Silence. The young rider has faced a great deal of well publicised adversity on several fronts in his short career, but the fact that he continues to fire winners back at his critics stands to his credit.

At times it must have been far easier to fold than keep going in his situation. That Jones has stuck to his task and forged some good results is a happy reward for both the youngster and those who have supported him during his troubled times.

Payne was the second of the Lee attached apprentices to visit the winners’ enclosure.

When he piloted Stitch It to victory in the fifth event on the card, the 4kg claiming apprentice Payne was winning for the third time in only nine rides, giving him a strike rate, for now at least, that would be the envy of any race rider.

“Just loving it,” was Payne’s only remark. And why wouldn’t you in his position.

For Emily Kehoe, who rounded off the memorable day for the Lee yard, her second successive win aboard the ever-honest Orpen Love was just another step in the steady progress this young apprentice has been making in recent times.

She is clearly thriving in the Lee stable environment which augers well for her future.

Record book stuff or not, the results of the Murwillumbah meeting produced a memorable achievement for the Stephen Lee racing family.

All credit to all involved.

One last word. You could do a lot worse than keep tabs on where Lee takes Easy Silence next.

The four-year-old mare was previously with the Gai Waterhouse stable, where she only had two starts.

She did not win, but was supported in the betting on both occasions so it fair to surmise she must have shown some ability in her first home.

But then she was withdrawn from action, allowed six months off and transferred into the care of Lee.

“Apparently she was a troublesome sort,” said Lee. “They struggled to keep weight on her or something like that and so gave her a break and then sent her to the bush.”

While you must take into account the quality of the opposition, the move has paid immediate dividends with the first win being posted with the minimum of fuss.

Jockey Josh Jones, for one, was impressed enough with the effort, or lack of it, required to take first prize.

“She’s a freak,” he said when dismounting. “I hadn’t moved on her by the 50m mark and I only did then because I thought I should remind her I was on top.”

Jones must wish everything in life could be that easy.