Boom country apprentice John Kissick was the toast of the Wellington Boot carnival on Sunday but his big feature double will not hasten plans for his move to a city stable.
Kissick added to his growing reputation when he landed the $60,000 Wellington Boot and $30,000 Town Plate double on Sunday for Wagga trainers Trevor Sutherland and Dave Heywood.
The double came two days after he capped a treble at the Albury Gold Cup carnival including the $50,000 Albury Guineas on Road Trippin' for Cranbourne trainer Stephen Theodore.
Kissick, last season's champion NSW country apprentice, has now ridden 158 winners and has been without a claim in NSW country races for more than 12 months.
However he still holds a 3kg claim in metropolitan races and, more importantly, can claim 2kg on the Victorian provincial circuit, an advantage that has brought a rush of interest in the apprentice from leading Victorian stables.
He has ridden 25 winners in Victoria in the last three months including 13 in the city but his master Peter Clancy says the 22-year-old is still in no rush to leave his Leeton base.
"Having the 2kg allowance in Victorian country races is a big thing for John but for now he is still happy to stay in Leeton and do the travelling," Clancy said.
"He ends his apprenticeship in 2014 so there is still time for him to make the move to Melbourne or Sydney when he feels the time is right."
Kissick's popularity with trainers was evident at Albury and Wellington where he rode in the feature races without the advantage of an allowance.
His Wellington Boot win on Power Alert added to the great season being enjoyed by Wagga trainer Trevor Sutherland as he heads towards claiming the SDRA training premiership.
Sutherland had three runners in the Boot and also claimed third place with Supreme Lyn. It was his second win in the feature two-year-old race after his 2008 success with Sin Sin Sin.
Dave Heywood said his classy sprinter Living On A Prayer will be aimed at the $80,000 Wagga Town Plate on May 2 after his thrilling win in the Town Plate at Wellington.
“I’ve been wanting to win the Wagga Town Plate for 40 years. It’s a big race on my home track and I reckon this might be the horse to do it for me,” Heywood said.
"He’s only had 11 starts and hasn’t missed a place yet so he hasn’t been a bad horse for us.
“He’ll have a couple of weeks to the Town Plate Prelude and then it’s on to the big one.”
