RISING star Francis K. S. Lam has already outridden his maximum 10-pound claim and will start making inroads into his seven-pound allowance at Happy Valley tonight.
Lam, the most exciting youngster in local racing since the days of Tony Cruz in the early 1970s, finds himself in considerable demand from a variety of trainers and he's let no one down yet.
Lam takes out Captain Ron in one of the night's more interesting races, a Classes Three and Four, 2,000-metre event on the equitrack surface where the front-running type has drawn perfectly against the rails.
There are four apprentices involved in this local riders' race and there is no doubt that, after considerable initial scepticism, these events have proved beneficial to young jockeys.
Trainers are much more inclined to put up the younger local riders than a couple of long-serving jockeys and it has resulted in some competitive races and quite respectable betting events.
And this 10-runner contest is certainly no exception with three of the gallopers involved course and distance winners and another couple just touched off by narrow margins.