Apel making giant strides in RJC Jockey Titles.

Apprentice jockey McKenzie Apel has been the big mover in the 2024/25 Rockhampton Jockey Premiership and now sits in second place behind reigning premier rider Justin Stanley.

This season’s top apprentice at RJC race meetings, Apel has gone ahead in leaps and bounds in recent months and has 14 wins beside her name for the season, still 19 behind Stanley but one ahead of Sean Cormack and three more than Ryan Wiggins.

Apel who is apprenticed to trainer Ricky Vale, has had 72 rides compared to senior rider Stanley’s 122.

Stanley, apprentice Liv O’Donnell, Cormack and Wiggins each have a winner-to-runner strike rate between 20% and 28% and Apel is just below the lead group with a strike of 19.44%.

Clinton Taylor holds a 14-win buffer in the Trainer’s title with 26 wins, Nick Walsh is second on 12 wins with Kerrod Smyth and Ricky Vale sharing third on 9 wins.

The Taylor trained Hellish heads the Horse of The Year honours with six Callaghan Park wins, two more than its nearest rival, the Tom Smith-trained Scrub Chain.

RJC CEO, David Aldred.