Apprentice hoop Cody Collis is chasing redemption in the 2025 King Of The Mountain at Toowoomba

Victory in Friday’s King Of The Mountain slot race in Toowoomba would cap a fairytale redemption story for rejuvenated apprentice jockey Cody Collis.

Apprentice jockey Cody Collis comes back to scale after winning the Mooloolaba Cup for trainer Ben Ahrens on Kerchak last November. Picture: Grant Peters / Trackside Photography

Victory in Friday’s King Of The Mountain slot race in Toowoomba would cap a fairytale redemption story for rejuvenated apprentice jockey Cody Collis.

The 21-year-old will ride hot chance Steady Ready for trainers Tony and Maddy Sears in the $750,000 King Of The Mountain (1200m), just five days after returning from a short holiday in Bali.

“He got suspended so he asked me if he could have four or five days off to reset so that’s what he’s done,” his boss, Sunshine Coast trainer Stuart Kendrick, told Racenet.

“As I said, if you work hard you can have that time off, as long as you keep your head in the right spot.”

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That hasn’t always been easy for the talented youngster, who took a break from racing in 2023 and headed to Queensland’s west where he rode bulls and welded fences at Roma.

By his own admission, Collis was partying too much in Brisbane and needed to escape the bright lights of the city to rediscover his zest for racing.

A heart-to-heart with Townsville trainer and good mate Adrian Coome convinced Collis to return to racing and he linked with Kendrick early last year on the Sunshine Coast, where there are less distractions for a young hoop trying to make his mark in the metropolitan ranks.

Young jockey Cody Collis has returned from the racing wilderness after riding rodeo bulls and welding fences.

He will ride at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday.

STORY via @bendorries76: https://t.co/XlD8nMtGiSpic.twitter.com/bQxDpxATEC

— Racenet (@RacenetTweets) August 9, 2024

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“Adrian said to him if you’re going to come back you need someone to keep you on the straight and narrow so he gave me a call,” Kendrick recalled.

“I said to Cody ‘if you want to come back and put in the hard yards then we’ll support you and help get you going but you’ve got to keep your head down, bum up and do the right thing’.

“He’s done that. He’s getting towards the end of his apprenticeship now, he’s only got until October, so he’s done a good job.

“Last week he got three Saturday metro winners, which is not easy to do.

“He’s got the ability but it’s the same thing with a lot of these kids, they’ve got to be dedicated enough to want it and if they are then there are some good opportunities for them, especially in Queensland at the moment.”

Stuart Kendrick helped get apprentice jockey Cody Collis on the straight and narrow.

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Of those three winners at Eagle Farm on March 15, one was Kendrick’s gelding Lost In Transit and another was classy sprinter Steady Ready, who is looking to go one better after finishing runner-up to Rothfire in last year’s King Of The Mountain.

It could be a sliding-doors moment for Collis given he only got this week’s ride on Steady Ready after Sydney jockey Zac Lloyd was handed a five-meeting ban, later reduced to three meetings on appeal, for careless riding in the Group 2 Ajax Stakes at Rosehill Gardens on the same day that Collis was carving it up at Eagle Farm.

TAB has listed Steady Ready as a $6 hope in the King Of The Mountain, behind Cifrado ($4.50), southern raider Boston Rocks and Rockhampton rocket Chinny Boom (both $5).

“I think he’s a really good horse,” Kendrick said of Steady Ready, a 1000m specialist who has won a third of his 18 races, including his past two starts.

“I know the Sears’ have had a big opinion of him for a long time and he was competitive during the winter carnival here (last year).

“His first-up win (on March 15) was phenomenal. If I was having my last dollar on the race I’d be hard-pressed to go past him.”

Steady Ready cruises to victory at Eagle Farm for @SearsMaddy! 👌 pic.twitter.com/Uz0vtIT67n

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) March 15, 2025

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If Collis can claim what would be the biggest win of his fledgling career on Friday, he can thank Coome and Kendrick for helping to turn his dream into a reality.

“Everyone deserves a second chance, or a third chance in some cases. I was pretty blunt with him,” Kendrick said.

“I said to him ‘if you want to not turn up to work or want to do the wrong thing and let people down all the time then you’re better off elsewhere’.

“But he got his head in the right spot. Hopefully when he does come out of his time he follows the same lines because he’s got the ability to be a really good metro rider.”

Originally published as Apprentice hoop Cody Collis is chasing redemption in the 2025 King Of The Mountain at Toowoomba