Schofield back for more Golden Monkey rides
Golden Monkey has lured Chad Schofield back to Kranji for four more feature race meetings, all Group 1 events.
Moreover, the Sydney-based English jockey will also be present on June 30 to ride another Tim Fitzsimmons runner, Lightning Strike, in the $150,000 Group 2 Stewards’ Cup (1,600m).
A previous combination on the Impending four-year-old on EW Barker Trophy day yielded a fourth place.
Schofield will, however, not take the ride in the main leg of the 4YO series, the Group 1 Singapore Derby (1,800m) on July 21. Fitzsimmons said the connections have yet to confirm a rider.
He will jet in to partner Golden Monkey in the Lion City Cup (1,200m) on July 28, the Raffles Cup (1,600m) on Aug 11, the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (1,800m) on Sept 7 and the 100th Grand Singapore Gold Cup (2,000m) on Oct 5.
The 30-year-old jockey boasts a smart record of two wins and two thirds in four rides on Golden Monkey.
Incidentally, one of their two victories was forged in the 2023 Stewards’ Cup. They were also successful at their second pairing which came in the Group 3 Fortune Bowl (1,400m) in February.
Schofield flew back in for two more assignments on the son of Star Turn, but they ran into Singapore champion Lim’s Kosciuszko on both occasions.
They finished third in both the Group 2 EW Barker Trophy (1400m) in April and the Group 1 Kranji Mile (1600m) in May.
Besides the two wins on Golden Monkey, the South African-born son of former top jockey Glyn Schofield has churned out four wins on the undercards, all for Fitzsimmons – Fire, Saint Tropez, Buuraq Sixty-One and Greatham Boy.
All six wins were recorded over his four hit-and-run visits, meaning he has never returned home empty-handed.
In 14 years in the saddle, Schofield has chalked up more than 600 wins, with the most famous being his Cox Plate win on Shamus Award in 2013.
He also boasts three more Group 1 wins, all recorded the following year in 2014 – the Newmarket Handicap on Lankan Rupee, the Champagne Stakes on Go Indy Go and the Queensland Derby on Sonntag.
Schofield was crowned New South Wales champion apprentice jockey in the 2011-12 season before claiming the Melbourne champion apprentice jockey title in the 2012-13 season.
He also enjoyed a successful stint in Hong Kong for seven years where he bagged six Group wins among more than 200 victories. His biggest success came aboard Singapore Sling in the 2018 Hong Kong Classic Cup before he returned to Sydney in late 2021.
Besides Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, his overseas riding resume also includes Japan, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Licensed by Racing New South Wales, Schofield sits in 14th position on 23 wins on the Sydney metropolitan jockeys’ premiership this season. He goes to scale at 55kg.
He will be a busy jockey before he catches an overnight flight to Singapore.
The well-sought hoop has a full book across the 11 races on the Rosehill programme on June 29.
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