WITH CHAMPION APPRENTICE JOCKEY JOHNATHAN GRANT opting to seek his fortune and fame in Canada like so many other local jockeys before him, the race for the 2008 apprentice championship looks like a three-man one between Louis-Philippe Beuzelin, Shane Collymore and Kenny John.

Grant, Beuzelin and Collymore actually rode the same amount of winners last year, ten to be exact, but Grant won the championship by finishing second on eight occasions, the most among the three.

Prior to going to Canada, Grant was leading the race for this year's championship among the apprentices.

At the end of the first season on April 28, Grant was ahead with seven wins, eight seconds and four thirds.

He was closely followed by John who had also booted home seven winners but he had only four seconds, while Beuzelin was in third position with six winners.

And when the first day of the second racing season ended last Monday, John edged into the lead by booting home one winner that day, making his number of wins eight for the year.

He actually passed the winning post on two occasions on Monday, but after winning on Solana, he lost the race in the stewards' room after they upheld an objection lodged by Anderson Trotman, who was unplaced on Hot Stuff.

Beuzelin also registered one win to take his tally to seven for the year.

The only other apprentice who may have an outside chance of clipping both Beuzelin and John is Collymore, stable jockey to the powerful Gay Smith barn.

However, in addition to being on the heavy side – he rode at 121 pounds on Monday – his career has been plagued with a number of unfortunate incidents which have forced him to miss a number of race days, and a repetition of such incidents could militate against him winning the title.

Collymore was not among the top ten jockeys at the end of the first season, but he benefited from John's disqualification on Monday when his mount, Eye Of The Tiger, was promoted to first.

If Collymore could get his body weight to around 112 pounds and stay away from the sorts of incidents that affected him in the past, he has the ability
to pull back and win this year's apprentice championship, especially if he remains in the Gay Smith stable. (TE)