Young gun apprentice set for Sydney stint

By Jordan Gerrans

Jace McMurray will follow the path of fellow talented Queensland apprentice hoop Zac Lloyd by jumping straight from the provincial level to the city ranks in Sydney.

The Gold Coast-based McMurray is set for a three-month loan stint with Randwick conditioner Michael Freedman through the winter months of 2025.

It was Freedman’s brother - Hall of Fame mentor Lee Freedman – who first alerted the Sydney trainer to McMurray’s talents.

Still a teenager, McMurray has long been considered a star on the rise in the Sunshine State apprentice ranks and is on track to claim the apprentice premiership title on the provincial circuit this season.

He has 56 victories to his name this campaign.

“I am very happy to give him the opportunity and we are looking forward to getting him here and getting him settled in,” Freedman said on Tuesday morning.

“The timing will be good for Jace because there is a couple of our better apprentices now who are starting to claim less.

“I think with those apprentices that you can use their full claim, he will certainly get opportunities.

“As is the case for any of them, he needs to get down here and work hard and he will get some opportunities to ride some trackwork for other stables at Randwick and they are stables that have traditionally been happy to use claiming apprentices on the right sort of horses.

“He will get the opportunity to spread his wings outside of my yard and hopefully increase his opportunities, as well.”

It was only a couple of years ago when then-teenager Lloyd went from riding at the provincials in Queensland to winning the Sydney apprentice title.

Before transferring south to the powerful Godolphin team of James Cummings, Lloyd was indentured to Brisbane trainer Lauren Abbott after beginning his career as an apprentice with the Edmonds’ on the Gold Coast.

The 21-year-old Lloyd is now firmly entrenched in the Sydney city riding ranks and has multiple Group 1 gongs on his resume, headlined by last year’s Stradbroke Handicap back home in Queensland.

Asked if McMurray can follow a similar path to Lloyd, Freedman says it all goes back to work ethic for his stable newcomer.

“We hope so,” Freedman said.

“He will need to get here and have his head down and work hard, there is no shortcuts with it.

“I had a brief chat with him the other day and we discussed exactly that.

“If he is prepared to put his hard yards in, he will get his opportunities here, which could hopefully lead to bigger and better things for him.”

McMurray was involved in a minor race fall at Clifford Park at Toowoomba on Saturday and is set to join the Freedman camp in the coming weeks.

Speaking at the launch of Queensland’s team for the National Apprentices Race Series last month, McMurray says he was pleased with the way he was working through his grades.

“I have outridden my country claim and I am now deep into my provincial claim,” the young gun said.

“I am chipping away ok.”

McMurray also said city premiership-leading hoop Emily Lang is a rider he keeps a close eye on as he builds his career.

Now based on the Gold Coast, McMurray has links to the Coffs Harbour region of New South Wales in his younger years while also spending time living in Far North Queensland.

"I grew up in Cairns, my family moved there just before I turned one and I lived there for 11 or 12 years," McMurray said last year.

"I have still got mates in Cairns.”

As well as his brother Lee, former champion hoop Corey Brown also pushed McMurray in the way of Freedman.

“Lee said to me that I should keep an eye on this young fella as he had seen him being based up there,” Freedman said.

“Lee thought he sits on pretty well and said that at some point in time, it would be worth trying to get him down to Sydney to try and get him a crack down here.

“Corey Brown has a lot to do with the apprentices down here in Sydney and also called me a few weeks back and also suggested there was an opportunity for Jace to come down at the start of the winter and do a stint.”

McMurray is indentured to Adam Campton on the Gold Coast, who has a close family connection with Brown.

The Freedman stable tasted Group 2 success on Saturday when Enriched claimed the Arrowfield at Randwick just weeks after landing the treasured Golden Slipper prize with Marhoona.