Orville Clarke, Freelance Writer

Jockey Orville Beckford, aboard DUE PROCESS, is led back to the winners' enclosure by groom Conrad Miller after winning the sixth race at Caymanas Park on Saturday. Beckford rode two winners on the 12-race programme. - Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer

Having grabbed a share of the spotlight with two winners from as many rides at Caymanas Park on Saturday, jockey Orville Beckford believes he can rebound successfully if given the opportunities.

A product of the Jockeys' School, Beckford, who graduated in 1999 along with batchmates Ramon Parish and Kenyatta Davis, won the second race aboard 7-2 chance VIGOROUS for trainer Owen Dawes and followed up in the sixth on 3-5 favourite DUE PROCESS for trainer Wilfred Chin.

Significantly, those were his first winners of the season and to say he was elated would be an understatement.

"Without the help of a jockeys' agent I have to hustle to get rides, but I was pretty confident that these horses were winners today, as I work them on a regular basis and knew what to expect," said the 26-year-old jockey who hails from Claremont in St. Ann.

VIGOROUS marked his first win since the Patrick Fong-trained THIS IS THE GIRL on March 5, 2005. Despite the long, dry spell, Beckford says he was optimistic that his luck would change before long.

"The rides wasn't coming because I had a weight problem, so I trained hard to reduce my weight and can now ride at 51.5kg.

"I worked horses at exercise almost every morning and run a lot. This was not only to bring down my weight but also to maintain peak fitness whenever I was called upon to ride."

Beckford, or 'Baby' as he is popularly called, has worked horses early in the mornings for a number of trainers, including Dawes, Chin, Anthony 'Baba' Nunes, Gary Subratie, Everal Francis and of course, Patrick Fong who he claims is always looking out for him.

Work permit woes

A past student of Bensonton All-Age in St. Ann, Beckford has done two stints at Gulfstream and Calder racetracks in Miami, but never got the opportunity to ride in Florida due to work permit requirements.

However, he was there for an extended period until June of this year, working horse for Jamaican-born trainers Willoughby Simpson and Colin Maragh, as well as Donna Green and Danny Eartock, before returning home.

"I've never ridden aboard," he laments. "However, I have every intention of riding in Florida when given the green light and hope this will materialise early next year," he added.

"It will be tough to break in over there, but if I stick with it for a while and am not making any progress, I can always return home like many other jockeys before me," he said.

In March 1999, Beckford had the distinction of being the first from his batch to win a race, this aboard the front-running BROWNING in a race confined to Jockeys' School trainees.

Upon graduating, he rode his first official winner, RUCKUS, for many-time champion trainer Wayne DaCosta, on May 1 that year and followed up 12 days later with TNT for trainer Robert Darby Sr.

Apprenticed to trainer Vin Edwards, Beckford progressed along the right lines for the remainder of 1999, finishing the season with 16 winners - his best to date. To date he has ridden 39 winners.

Although never a Top 10 jockey, Beckford is confident in his ability to make the grade now that he has done the necessary roadwork. And if the breaks go his way in the weeks ahead, he might just forget about Miami.