Dubbo apprentice jockey Ronald Simpson making sacrifices in hope of making it to the top

He then turned 18 years old on Monday.

You would imagine that would be reason to celebrate and maybe go out with friends and family.

But that wasn’t the case for the highly-rated Simpson.

“I’m very happy to put the partying aside. I don’t want to do that,” he said.

“People tell me I’ve got a career in front of me so I’ve got to keep working and sacrifice things and then things might come my way.”

Originally from Brewarrina, Simpson is now based at Dubbo and when he first moved to the city he took a trip to the racecourse.

He met Justin Stanley there while asking around for a job and the pair hit it off straight away.

Now apprenticed to Stanley, Simpson made his debut in the saddle at Dubbo’s Melbourne Cup Day meeting and made an immediate impact when he booted the Connie Greig-trained Butterfly Sky to victory.

Simpson described that as a “special day”, with family members on hand to witness the win.

His two wins at Wellington on Sunday took his record to a thoroughly impressive five wins in 18 starts.

“I’m really happy,” he said.

“I’m starting to really understand racing and what to do in each race.

“It feels great to get a few (winners) but I’ve got a long way to go and anything could happen. It might take a couple of months to ride my next one so I’ve got to keep my head down and keep working.”

Simpson will take to the saddle next at Sunday’s Cowra Cup meeting.

While he’s unlikely to get a ride in the day’s feature event, the young hoop is excited to use the meet as another chance to gain experience.

“He’s been really good right from the start,” Stanley said of his apprentice.

“He listens well and always wants to learn and he loves riding. He’s made big improvements. He’s got good balance and it’s getting better each ride.

“You give him instructions and he goes out and rides to them. He’s got a bright future, for sure.”

With hype starting to build around Simpson, Stanley has sat him down and spoken to him about staying grounded.

Stanley said it didn’t take much, with the 18-year-old proving a determined individual.

Simpson credits much of his success to Stanley, with the trainer being a former jockey himself.

“He knows what it’s about,” Simpsons said.

“He’s a great boss. After every race meet he comes around and we watch replays and he tells me what I’ve done wrong or what I can learn.

“The goal is to be riding down in Sydney or Melbourne but I’m happy to go around here each week.”

Simpson expects to have five rides at Cowra on Sunday. The final fields and jockeys are released on Thursday.

Stanley nominated both Something Borrowed and the in-form Wollarant for the $30,000 Cowra Cup feature.