Apprentice jockey Radesh Roman, the 20-year-old cousin of record six-time champion Omar Walker, recorded his first victory on only his seventh ride at Caymanas Park.
The St John’s College graduate won Monday's first race over eight-and-a-half furlongs (1,700m) on 3-1 betting option She’s Symbolic, trained by Anthony Nunes.
“To be honest, words can’t really explain my feelings right now. I have been working so hard in the mornings and I have been waiting on this for so long and for it to have come true, I am really proud of myself and I must thank the trainer for the ride and the people who are behind me,” an elated Roman said.
She’s Symbolic was held off the pace for a quite a while before making her run at the half-mile (800m). She’s drew alongside Uncle Honey in deep stretch and then went on to win by 2 ½ lengths.
“The key to victory was following the trainer’s instructions. First, I got a clean break and held She’s Symbolic off the pace but coming to the six-furlong point she was pulling me so hard and I had to hold tight because I was riding to the trainer’s instructions.
“Leaving the four-furlong, she wanted to go through but I had to wait and wait and at the three-furlong point that was when I got the space I needed to go through and we went on our way.
“The trainer said that it didn’t matter where I was in the race, I must move her from the 2 ½ furlong point and that was exactly what I did and got the job done,” explained Roman, who had become the sixth apprentice in the recent batch to win a race.
Roman said that the celebration doesn’t stop here.
“I love horse racing from I was younger. I was always fascinated by horses and for my cousin, Omar Walker is someone I admire him a lot.
“I have a lot of goals I want to achieve and so I have to continue putting in the hard work and get a lot of rides and enhance my opportunity to win more races,” said Roman.
