Apprentice jockey Lily Sutherland brought up the 100th win of her career with a well-timed finish aboard Aljay in Saturday’s Beard Brothers Handicap (2200m) at Hastings. 

Sutherland headed to Hawke’s Bay on Saturday with 99 wins to her name, and she had a frustrating start to the day with a series of second placings on Honey Badger, Tanner and Carignan. 

But the well-performed Aljay delivered the milestone for his 20-year-old jockey with an irresistible come-from-behind performance in the day’s $40,000 staying feature. 

After settling in second-last behind a steady speed set by Marroni, Sutherland brought Aljay to the centre of the track in the home straight and started to move him through his gears. 

Aljay warmed into his work and finished over the top of Marroni and Never Look Back, edging past that pair to win by a length. 

Sutherland’s landmark 100th win was made even more special by the fact that Aljay is trained by her employer Kevin Myers. 

“This is very special,” she said. “It’s even better doing it in these colours, because Kevin has been a huge supporter in my career. I’m very grateful to Kevin and his owners for this ride. 

“He’s got a lot of class and was definitely the best horse in the field today. I was very grateful for the opportunity to ride him. I know I could only claim 1kg off his 60kg on a heavy track, but he was just too good for them.” 

Aljay’s victory was the 47th winning ride of the season for Sutherland, and another win later in the afternoon with Who Knows brought her level with apprentice jockeys’ premiership leader Niranjan Parmar on 48. 

Aljay has now had 37 starts for seven wins, eight seconds and seven thirds, earning $397,862 for the ownership pair of Myers and Charlie Gestro. The Rock ‘N’ Pop gelding’s name comes from Gestro’s initials, L J. 

Bought for just $10,000 as a weanling, and later secured by Myers for $39,000 from the 2019 Ready to Run Sale at Karaka, Aljay won the Gr.3 New Zealand Cup (3200m) in November 2022 and has also placed in this year’s Listed Rotorua Cup (2200m) and the last two editions of the Listed Metropolitan Trophy (2600m).