Braith Nock follows racetrack win with second-placed bull ride

The 21-year-old reached new heights yesterday when he won race four at the Tamworth meet, before getting into a saddle of a different kind and placing second in the first round of the ABCRA open bull ride finals.

"It was a pretty good day, really," Nock said.

The Bendemeer product, who is now based in Scone, has ridden bulls for roughly the last two years but "always rode steers as a young fella".

He is much newer to racing, but said he was "always going to be a jockey eventually", which comes as no surprise given his upbringing around the industry.

"It's something that's always been in the back of my mind and I've wanted to do," Nock said.

"Just doing it was the thing, it was about when I wanted to start. It was probably a good thing that I waited a few years and matured a bit more."

Yesterday's win, on Lightfast out of Paul Messara's stable, was Nock's second from four starts on horseback.

When asked if he had any inkling of the success that was to come so early in his racing career, Nock simply replied: "No, not really".

But he was confident that Lightfast had what it took to win on Thursday.

"I thought I was a pretty good chance, he's a pretty good horse," Nock said.

The subsequent second-place effort at the ABCRA finals will greatly improve Nock's chances of topping the Rookie Bull Ride division, where he began the event ranked second.

The young man's proficiency in both jockeying and bull riding points to the many hours of passion and hard work that he has put into training.

And though he hopes to pursue racing going forward, Nock was reticent to pick a favourite between the two sports.

"I've done a lot more bull riding than racing, but it's a different adrenaline rush," he said.

To add to his delight, his mother, Jane Clement, won the Country Music Cup in race six at the same meet yesterday.

Though they did not have time to celebrate together, she took the horses back to the stable and returned to Tamworth to watch him participate in the bull ride.

"She had to take the horses home, but they came and watched me at the rodeo," Nock said.

"But there were no celebrations, really."

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