After seven years in Hong Kong where he rode over 200 winners, Gr1 WS Cox Plate-winning jockey Chad Schofield is set to make his Australian return to race riding this Thursday where he will partner the John O’Shea-trained 3YO gelding Destiny’s Bounty in the Maiden Plate over 1200m at Gosford.
Chad Schofield – back in Sydney
With his wife Hannah is expecting their first child and the constantly evolving Covid-19 pandemic, the decision was made to head back to Australia to continue his riding career.
“I think he’s resuming at a good time of the year where a lot of the main riders are having a break, so there is a little bit of a [rider] shortage in Sydney at the moment,” Schofield’s manager Mark Van Triet told racing.com.
“It’s been well documented, he’s spent the last seven years in Hong Kong, he must’ve been doing something right to survive for that long, because it’s a tough gig up there. He’s come back to Australia, he’s at the peak of his powers. He’s ready to go, he’ll have about five, six rides on Sunday, Boxing Day, and really it’s just a case of building each meeting.”
Having recorded elite success aboard the now Rosemont Stud based stallion Shamus Award (Snitzel) when winning the time-honoured Cox Plate as an apprentice, as well as further Gr1 wins aboard Sonntag (Teofilo), Go Indy Go (Bernardini) and Lankan Rupee (Redoute’s Choice), Schofield is just shy of 500 race winners, with the 27-year-old sure to reach that milestone in the coming months.
- Breeding & Racing
