TRAINEE apprentice Linton Steadman considerably boosted his stocks on Sunday last when he rode his second winner in the specially arranged races (no whips allowed) by the Jamaica Racing Commission for the 20 riders currently in training in the Jockeys’ Training School.

Linton, who is the son of former jockey Everton Steadman, displayed early signs of pigskin ability when he piloted the Cleveland Mitchell-conditioned Grand Train to victory over the five-furlong straight course in a four-year-old and up maiden special weight event.

Of the 14 horses declared, only 12 took part after Rolling Stone, the mount of Melissa Ward, and Omega with Oniel Scott turned over in the starting gates.

As the runners sorted themselves out after an even start, it was hard to determine where the winner would come from, but as they approached the last three furlongs, Steadman keeping Grand Train on a straight path, hit the front and under steady handling pulled ahead for an easy win.

“The race was nice and the instruction was to watch them run for the first three-and-a-half furlongs and then ask him to run from that. Grand Train likes to stop in the last half-a-furlong, so I saved him up to that point,” he told the Complete Racing Guide in a post-race interview.

Steadman, who started riding at a tender age and admires four-time champion jockey Omar Walker, declared that he intends to continue the hard work in order to progress to the next level.

“Once I keep working hard, I know I will get the rides to do well. So I am just aiming to work hard because I always wanted to be a jockey. I just have to keep motivated and work towards achieving my goal,” he declared.

The trainee apprentice rode his first winner aboard the Ryan Darby-trained Seal the Deal over 1,400 metres earlier this month. The group of 20 have now competed in three races, with Ward winning the first.