Darren McLeod showed Mario is not the only former plumber who wins races and the tradie turned jockey did not have to throw the kitchen sink at Pentelligentsia for him to make a triumphant debut six years after changing careers.
In 2015, McLeod swapped plungers for persuaders, but he did not need to use the latter on Pentelligentsia in the final stages of Wednesday’s opening race at Murray Bridge because the gelding had the steeplechase won a long way out and only required hands-and-heels riding across the finish line.
McLeod, who shred more than one-quarter of his body weight to fulfil his dream of making the switch from the Yellow Pages to the sports pages, had little more than half an hour to celebrate his debut victory before his second start resulted in an unplaced run aboard Aristocrat.
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