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Sydney's champion apprentice Winona Costin has had a slow start to the new term but a win at Gosford on Tuesday, which had been four months coming, has kicked-started her season.
The 20-year-old moved her apprenticeship to the care of Peter and Paul Snowden in April and, although firing home winners for other yards, she hadn't been able to win for her bosses.
The aptly named Suspense got the job done for Costin and she backed it up with another Snowden-prepared charge Self Esteem, her first city winner of the season, at Warwick Farm on Wednesday.
"It was pretty special, I was pretty stoked [on Tuesday]," Costin said. "I was starting to think, is this ever going to come? He had been giving me the most opportunities he could and I was just riding placing after placing after placing. It was getting to me a bit and [was] a relief to get a winner."
Costin is more settled and confident since joining the Snowden team and will be out to continue her winning run with the stable when she rides Artistry and Wild 'n' Famous at Rosehill on Saturday.
"I'm a lot happier now and it definitely shows. Obviously, I have had a bit of a slow patch but I'm dealing with that pretty well. Usually I get down on myself," Costin said. "All the staff at the Snowden team have been so good to me and kept me up. It is good to have an encouraging side there.
"I sit down with Peter and have a good chat about my rides and we will look at the good aspects as well as the bad rather than just looking at the bad sides."
The backing of a big stable like the Snowdens can make an apprentice and Costin's goal of winning back-to-back apprentice titles will depend on the association as she gets closer to losing her claim.
She rides work at Randwick for the Snowdens and with that comes opportunities that sometimes she doesn't see coming. Wild 'n' Famous, which likes Costin, was one such chance.
"I wasn't expecting to ride him but they thought that he is down in the weight and the claim would help," Costin said. "I just get on with him, he's a bit of [a] quirky horse.
"He picks and chooses his riders at trackwork, some riders have a bit of trouble with him, he likes me and I never have any trouble with him.
"I rode him in his trial and he went fantastic. He does everything right, jumps and puts himself there and makes his own luck."
Artistry steps up to Saturday after an impressive return at Canterbury, where she sat three-wide and was strong enough to hold on and win.
"She is a wonder horse, a big, scopy type and covers the ground very, very well," Costin said. "It's good to get the chance to ride her."
Costin has also been booked to ride Thunder Lady for John Sargent, as well as Brigantin and The Brown One.
