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By Ray Hickson

It’s not lost on young gun Zac Lloyd that suspensions could cost him this season’s champion apprentice crown so as he gets back into the race at Canterbury on Wednesday he’s aiming to stay out of the stewards room.

The 19-year-old has spent the last three weeks serving his ninth suspension this season but has still managed to retain the lead on 55 wins – and what’s remarkable about that tally given the amount of time on the sidelines is that his first city win was only in September.

Zac Lloyd (Pic: Bradley Photos)

While suspensions can be part of the learning curve for an apprentice, Lloyd, who is back in the saddle at Kembla on Tuesday, said it’s been a source of frustration for him and he’s not keen to hit double figures.

“I’ve had enough to last the next five years. That’s my number one goal, to try and stay racing,’’ he said.

“It annoys me to think about it but I’m happy to have ridden 55.

“Horses that you were riding can come out and win when you’re off and you won’t see the ride again.

“It’s hard to get that flow of good rides but I’ve been fortunate to have the support of Godolphin and the Hawkes stable.”

Lloyd’s 55 wins has him three clear of both Dylan Gibbons and Tyler Schiller on 52 with just over two months of the season remaining. Only James McDonald has ridden more city winners than the star apprentice trio in 2022-23.

Schiller has already lost his claim while Gibbons still has another 16 before he closes his 1.5kg. Lloyd still has 25 up his sleeve. A treble on Saturday has fellow apprentice Reece Jones just five shy of outriding his city claim.

A 21 per cent strike rate in town is behind Lloyd’s rapid rise and that’s something he’d like to keep as high as possible.

“It’s hard to maintain and if I can stay around there I’ll always do quite well,’’ he said.

“When I came to town I was trying to make a name for myself and I did that quickly which I was surprised about.”

In the past three weeks, while serving a suspension for weighing in light on Sweet Mercy at Hawkesbury last month, Lloyd has been working hard behind the scenes and was sent to Melbourne for a week by James Cummings to work in the Flemington yard.

Godolphin provide him with his first two Canterbury rides including Relatives in the Hyland Race Colours Handicap (1100m) and the filly is one Lloyd is quite familiar with.

The Lonhro youngster has raced twice and Lloyd was on board when she was a beaten favourite at Canberra back on December 30.

“I went to Canberra just for her and I thought she would win quite comfortably,’’ he said.

“I think she might have had enough that prep, she was up a long time and she’s only a small filly.

“She’s still at Crown Lodge so I’ve been riding her trackwork and she’s come back a much better horse as you can see in her trials. I’d expect improvement, first-up a win would be a tough ask but she’s definitely come back better.”

All the fields, form and replays for Wednesday's Canterbury meeting