Melbourne Cup dream comes true for teenage superstar jockey Chad Schofield

CHAD Schofield stood in the Flemington enclosure and made a beeline for the owners of Ruscello after the horse qualified for the Melbourne Cup.

CHAD Schofield stood in the Flemington enclosure on Saturday and made a beeline for the owners of Ruscello after the horse qualified for the Melbourne Cup.

Racing’s "Boy Wonder" was desperate to secure a ride in his first-ever Cup - and the grateful connections wasted no time granting him his big carnival wish.

In the space of just 10 days, Schofield has gone from winning the Cox Plate to competing in the Flemington show-stopper worth $6.2 million in prizemoney.

While Gai Waterhouse is chasing her elusive first Cup win with favourite Fiorente, the real feel-good story of the Cup will be a win by Schofield on a horse rated a $101 hope as late as Saturday.

Schofield, 19, was the first apprentice in nearly 40 years to win the Cox Plate on Shamus Award. And he could become the first P-plater to win the Cup in 65 years since the late Ray Neville won in 1948.

"It doesn’t get any better than this, I have to pinch myself, it’s a dream come true," Schofield told The Daily Telegraph last night.

"I had six or seven Cup offers, and Ruscello actually wasn’t one of them, but when he won the Lexus, I walked straight up to connections of the horse and told them to put my name in hat. Then I got the ride a couple of hours later. It’s terrific."

Schofield, who moved from South Africa to Melbourne via Sydney, is the son of well-known hoop Glyn Schofield. Glyn has since invited callers to leave a message for "Chad’s dad".

To prove how quickly the younger Schofield’s profile has surged, Ruscello’s trainer Ed Walker hadn’t even heard of him until last week.

"I didn’t know anything about him until he won the Cox Plate," Walker said.

"The reports from some pretty good judges and people is he’s a very talented jockey, and he’s a very good guy, which is quite rare to tick two boxes.

"I met him yesterday, he’s very nice, polite and a guy with a level head. From the little riding I’ve seen him do, it was a no-brainer.’’

Ruscello, who drew barrier 24 - and is part-owned by former Australian all-rounder Simon O’Donnell - was included at the expense of living legend Bart Cummings and his Cup hope Precedence.

Walker, 30, went to contact Cummings about how you should handle horses with the quick Cup turn-around, but was glad he didn’t.

"I thought, 'Bart, he’s the natural choice', then I found out my horse had booted his horse out, so I thought that might not be tactful," Walker said.

"He’s a super celebrity. This is his race, so it will be a bit strange and sad he hasn’t got a runner this year."

Schofield wasn’t actually Ruscello’s first pick, with big-race ace Glen Boss turning down the chance for the simple fact, "I don’t think he can win".

"He’s got 50kg, if I thought he could win or run in the top five I would have got down to the weight, but I can’t see him winning or running in the top five," Boss said.

"You might as well give an opportunity to young Chad, it will be his first ride in the Melbourne Cup, he’s won the Cox Plate, so it’s a great opportunity for him."