THEY have been relatively dormant since the start of the year, yet this period of lack of winners came to an abrupt end on Wednesday last when the apprentices, led by Kuri Powell and Prince Holder with doubles, reinstated their presence with a bang.

Shamaree Muir also had a winner to bring the overall tally on the day for the apprentices to five out of the nine races run on the card, just over a 50 per cent win ratio.

It was a defining day for Powell. He rode the first two winners on the programme, Soca Party for trainer Dennis Lee and She’s So Special for Gary Griffiths. The young practitioner of the pigskin was at his best on Soca Party as although being despised in the betting, Powell kept off the pace in the $450,000-$400,000 claiming event over five-and-a-half furlongs (1,100 metres) set by Emergence, Si Puedo, Shining Gold and Machismo.

He straightened for the last two furlongs of the race well behind on the outside but came with a well-timed effort to catch and beat Machismo by three parts of a length with Shining Gold third.

As if not enough, Powell, who until Wednesday’s race meeting had only ridden four winners, returned to harvest another this time in a front-running effort on board She’s So Special.

The joy on his face when he returned to the winners’ unsaddling enclosure was something to behold. It was as if a heavy weight had been lifted off his tiny shoulders and the spirit of achievement and promise had returned. These are indeed good signs which Powell must build on in order to achieve further success on the track. Work diligently, my son!

Raceday after raceday Prince Holder, the shortest and probably the smallest of all the riders now plying their trade at Caymanas, continues to demonstrate his burgeoning prowess in the saddle. He lies second on the apprentice list behind leader Shamaree Muir with 17 winners going into Wednesday’s races.

Add to that another two winners, as the ‘Daggerman’ as he is known to racing fans, was successful on I Am Thankful for trainer Wayne DaCosta and Sabina for Marlon Anderson.

Holder’s handling of I Am Thankful was a lesson in patience. He was well off the pace in this one-mile event for four-year-olds and up non-winners of two event, but he never worried and navigated his mount with a paced run to take the lead a furlong and a half out, even thwarting the final rush of Runaway Queen with a hand-riding flourish. He then brought home Sabina in the nightcap.

Shamaree Muir, the leader of the pack with 20 winners had little to do on D’Nugget who won by over 10 lengths in the feature on the day, the Mortimer Heron Memorial Trophy.

So of the 20 apprentices introduced to racing last year, only three are yet to ride a winner: Sadiki Blake, Kareem Richardson and Garvey and Zac Meikle. Keep the faith, guys, continue to work hard and your day will come.

It was so good to see Ruja Lahoe riding again. Lahoe was involved in a nasty spill and pile-up while on board Beyonce last December and was making his return to race riding after an extensive period of treatment and physiotherapy.

He had three rides on the day, which was reduced to two as Songs of Freedom was declared a late non-starter. Welcome back, Ruja, and the best of luck, you have done well to return in the saddle, continue to show your resilience as it will augur well for the future.

The performance of the day on Wednesday, which was extremely windy, came from first-time runner Princess Sassy, trained by the ever patient Noel Ennevor. Racing in a maiden condition race run over six furlongs, Princess Sassy with Paul Francis tracked leader I’m A Believer before blowing away inside the straight for a rather facile 10-length victory.

The field this bay filly competed against was certainly not the best assembled, the time 1:15.1 was slow but given the high winds this is understandable, but the manner of victory should be noted for further reference. She simply did what she had to do to get off to a winning start. The veteran trainer will wrap this one tightly and let her develop to her best. Let us hope this will all be done before the Easter Holiday period when the 1000 Guineas is scheduled to be run.

Champion trainer Wayne DaCosta led the way among conditioners with two wins — I Am Thankful and Sir Von. The latter put in an impressive performance to win over nine furlongs and 25 yards, getting the better of Aventura and Classic Princess.