Apprentice Zac Wadick making his mark on Sydney racing with first Randwick win a week after first at Rosehill

A perfect ride by apprentice Zac Wadick on Space Age at Randwick has seen him claim his first Randwick success.

Zac Wadick returns after winning on Space Age at Randwick on Saturday. Picture: Getty Images

Star apprentice Zac Wadick booted home his first Royal Randwick winner just a week after his inaugural Rosehill Gardens winner as the curtain is drawn on the first act of what shapes as a stellar career.

Wadick’s heady ride on import Space Age saw the youngster finish in front of a field of jockeys that included the three times Everest and Melbourne Cup winner Kerrin McEvoy as well as Sydney’s seven-time Sydney premiership winner, James McDonald.

“I’ve got a great team around me,” Wadick said.

“I’ve got a great manager and a great boss in Brad Widdup and he’s just given me all the confidence to come out here and ride competitively.”

Space Age wears the nationally ubiquitous colours of Seymour Bloodstock who have seemingly unearthed a second potential Spring Carnival aspirant to partner the Tulloch Lodge-trained ord Mayor’s Cup winner, Eliyass.

Space Age kicks along the outside to win Race 6 at Randwick thanks to a great ride from Zac Waddick!@cmaherracingpic.twitter.com/znbJ0nKCc3

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) July 27, 2024

“It was great to win for Seymour Bloodstock,” Ciaron Maher’s Sydney-based assistant trainer Johann Gerard-Dubord said.

“He is a horse that is improving every start. He did take a couple of runs to really get going for us to work him out but he is full of confidence now.

“Zac rode him very well. We were fairly keen to try to find the lead and when one other went forward, he just took a sit and gave Space Age a chance to travel.

“When he showed his hand, he is very fit and with the lightweight, he was always going to be hard to beat.”

Meanwhile, flashy chestnut Green Shadows, a third generation of winners for trainer Gerald Ryan, posted a well-earned yet overdue win at Royal Randwick with a lot of help from Sydney’s soon-to-be eight-time champion Sydney Jockey James McDonald.

McDonald was having his first ride on the grandson of Ryan’s beloved Snitzel, aiming to do what only Reece Jones, James Orman and Josh Parr had done before.

Too often the victim of his own pattern, McDonald slotted Green Shadows ($5) into a striking position, doing just that at the 300m and set up a lead that was paired back some in the final stages by the runner-up, Dr Evil ($6) with Ambassadors ($11) further back in third.

“When we got to the 1000m mark, I was pretty confident where James had him,” Ryan said.

“He was down in grade, up in journey which gave him a chance to travel. He had a think about it halfway up the straight.

“It’s just good for him to get a win. He’s been a frustrating horse. He got the good run (today), he carried the big weight and he got the job done.”

It's @mcacajamez winning another one!

Green Shadows wins Race 3 at Randwick. @GRyanRacingpic.twitter.com/lPdpqbRqnZ

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) July 27, 2024

McDonald was similarly effusive in his praise of Green Shadows who doesn’t quite seem to share his grandfather’s penchant for the sloppy tracks.

“He was perfectly placed and he’d been running well on heavier ground which is probably not really to his liking,” McDonald said. “But he won nicely and he did a good job.

“He is a nice fit racehorse now and he’ll probably get a bit more confidence out of today. He’s a good horse.”

Green Shadows was a member of the first crop of the Ryan-trained Menari who is himself a member of one of the two-time Golden Slipper-winning breeder, George Altomonte’s most prized families at his famed Corumbene Stud.

Menari won three of his eight starts including the Rosebud and Run To The Rose immediately preceding his third to then stablemate Trapeze Artist in the Golden Rose,

Green Shadows was the only son or daughter by Menari offered at the 2021 Perth Yearling Sale.

And despite being held on the other side of the country, Ryan was front and centre when bidding stopped, securing the chestnut for $80,000 - his only purchase at the auction.

Sadly, Menari only completed four seasons at stud before an untimely passing in 2023 leaving a total of 71 offspring.

Originally published as Apprentice Zac Wadick making his mark on Sydney racing with first Randwick win a week after first at Rosehill