Apprentice Kyle Wilson-Taylor has a night to remember in the saddle at Clifford Park

A masterclass from rising apprentice Kyle Wilson-Taylor has given the promising hoop a night to remember.

Kyle Wilson-Taylor (pictured at Grafton). Photo: Adam Hourigan

RACING: Kyle Wilson-Taylor put on a masterclass at Clifford Park, producing a career-best effort.

The apprentice rider claimed four of the eight winners on the program, marking a welcome to remember at his new home track.

Wilson-Taylor recently took up a position as apprentice for trainer Lindsay Hatch

“It’s definitely the best day I’ve had,” Wilson-Taylor said.

“I knew I had a good book of rides and came into the meeting confident, but you can’t be that confident to ride four.

“Lindsay has been good enough to offer me and opportunity and I wanted to take it with both hands.

“I’m from the Northern Rivers, and my manager (Glen Courtney) is good mates with Lindsay and helped to line it up.”

After six rides on the Gold Coast, Wilson-Taylor made his first ride at Clifford Park a winning one, guiding Zaiteki ($5.50) to a dominant victory in the Austmix Australia Benchmark 58 Handicap (1000m).

He made it a running double, securing a gap in the straight for Little Miss Pixie ($3 fav) to take out the Joe Wagner Group QTIS Class 1 Handicap (1210m).

“Zaiteki showed a nice turn of foot. The race worked out perfectly for her. She had a wide gate to overcome and there was enough speed to get a trail,” he said.

“Little Miss Pixie found the gap, and when I gave her a tap with the whip, she was able to put them away convincingly.”

Wilson-Taylor made it a hat-trick with the heavily-supported Juliette Street ($1.55) nosing out Better In Than Out ($7) in the Moco Maiden Handicap (870m), before riding a winner for his master Hatch in the form of Fav Flyer ($8) scoring a big 3 ½ length win in the Audi Centre Toowoomba Maiden Handicap (870m).

“Juliette Street was very tough. She’s a nice horse and she’ll go on. She travelled strongly and really had to fight hard to secure that win,” he said.

“Fav’s Flyer is a horse that’s shown a bit at home. He showed a bit of aggression early and was goo enough to win off a hot speed.”

Rexx ridden by Jodi Worley wins the opening event at Clifford Park. Photo: Nev Madsen

Rexx had enough in the tank to lead all the way in the feature race of the program, the V.J. Butler Memoral Summer Provincial Series Heat (1300m).

CLIFFORD PARK RESULTS

Track: Good 4

Rail: +3m 800-600m, +5m remainder

1. BENCHMARK 72 HANDICAP, 1300m: 2.80 fav REXX (bt g 5y I Am Invincible-Radiant Star. Trainer: Ian Cook) 58.5 (Jodi Worley) 1, 5.00 COLPO DI TAMBURO 59 (Ben Moffat) 2, 12.00 TYCOON STREET 57.5 (Chris Taylor) 3. Then followed: 1200 Lyrical Prince, 4.20 Fish On, 10.00 Rossmay, 16.00 Jochberg, 13.00 Prince Planet last. ¾ len, 1 ¼ len. Time: 1:18.41 (Last 600m 37.66).

2. BENCHMARK 58 HANDICAP, 1000m: 7.50 KAORU KING (b g 4y Mahisara-Pag Asa Princess. Trainer: Jason Edwards) 59.5 (Girish Goomany) 1, 7.50 WALK THE TALK 63 (Gary Geran) 2, 2.05 fav GLOBAL FACTOR 58 carr 55 (Nathan Fazackerley) 3. Then followed: 17.00 Scare Campaign, 6.50 American Crown, 13.00 Super Freak, 9.50 Intimate Tycoon, 21.00 Herecum Da Drums last. 2 ½ len, sh ½ hd. Time: 59.94 (Last 600m 35.37).

3. BENCHMARK 58 HANDICAP, 1000m: 5.50 ZAITEKI (b m 4y Golden Archer-Urbane. Trainer: John Dann) 59.5 carr 56.5 (Kyle Wilson-Taylor) 1, 7.50 DREAMLINA 57 (Vishan Venkaya) 2, 14.00 DANCES WITH TIME 57.5 (Brooke Ainsworth) 3. Then followed: 9.50 After The Storm, 26.00 Heart Of Kings, 8.00 Conquer Mee, 2.60 fav She’s Crowned, 7.00 Accumulated last. 2 len, 1 ¼ len. Time: 59.36 (Last 600m 35.76).

4. QTIS 3YO CLASS 1 HCP, 1210m: 3.00 fav LITTLE MISS PIXIE (b f 3y Spill The Beans-Pixie Miss (NZ). Trainer: Tony and Maddysen Sears) 57.5 carr 54.5 (Kyle Wilson-Taylor) 1, 3.70 MR BROSE 56 (Gary Geran) 2, 6.00 MADE OF MONEY 55 (Stephanie Lacy) 3. Then followed: 18.00 Angels Share, 6.00 Magic In Me, 14.00 Grand, 26.00 Dusi Canoe, 9.50 Touch Of Bali, 151.00 Draconian Heart last. 1 ½ len, hd. Time: 1:14.06 (Last 600m 37.15).

5. MAIDEN HANDICAP, 870m: 1.55 fav JULIETTE STREET (b m 4y Love Conquers All-Bechwat. Trainer: Troy Pascoe) 56 carr 53 (Kyle Wilson-Taylor) 1, 7.00 BETTER IN THAN OUT 56.5 (Kenji Yoshida) 2, 7.50 HAIRY LOVER 59 (Skye Bogenhuber) 3. Then followed: 11.00 Yazzi Jean, 18.00 Moskogee, 21.00 Path Ahead, 71.00 Snip Of Gin, 15.00 Our Shania last. Nse, 5 len. Time: 51.55 (Last 600m 34.73).

6. MAIDEN HANDICAP, 870m: 8.00 FAV’S FLYER (b or br g 3y Falvelon-Tycoon Annie. Trainer: Lindsay Hatch) 56.5 carr 53.5 (Kyle Wilson-Taylor) 1, 1.90 fav ALL JEED UP 57.5 (Josh Adams) 2, 6.50 BEATING DRUM 55 (Girish Goomany) 3. Then followed: 91.00 Cool Espresso, 9.50 Cherax Destroyer, 9.00 Zaragigi, 8.00 Lucy Too, 41.00 Beef’n’Black Bean last. 3 ½ len, ½ len. Time: 51.09 (Last 600m 34.21).

7. BENCHMARK 68 HANDICAP, 1650m: 3.10 fav THE IRONS (gr g 6y The Hammer-Updrafts. Trainer: Jason Gregory) 59.5 carr 56.5 (Emma MacPherson) 1, 8.50 LI’L RODGE 58.5 (Josh Adams) 2, 4.80 MISS CAVALLO 55 (Skye Bogenhuber) 3. Then followed: 4.40 The Minivan, 21.00 Palace Tycoon, 8.50 Aruba, 6.00 Louie La’joy last. 2 ¼ len, 1 ¼ len. Time: 1:41.68 (Last 600m 39.15).

8. CLASS 1 PLATE, 1650m: 5.50 I’M CALLIN’ DIBS (br g 4y Real Saga-Sarab Miss. Trainer: Mark Currie) 59 (Josh Adams) 1, 4.20 MBAPPE 59 (Skye Bogenhuber) 2, 6.00 GRAZIANO 59 (Rebecca Goldsbury) 3. Then followed: 3.30 fav Dream Police, 10.00 Oakfield Tickets, 19.00 Wanted Miss, 7.50 Jabalic, 61.00 Our Boy Trav last. 3 ¾ len, sh ½ hd. Time: 1:42.61 (Last 600m 38.91).

Originally published as Apprentice Kyle Wilson-Taylor has a night to remember in the saddle at Clifford Park