Chad Schofield has ridden his first winner since his return from a three-month stint overseas.
Schofield guided the Mick Price-trained Downhearted to victory in the opening race at Geelong on Friday.
It was Schofield’s first winner in Australia since scoring the Price-trained Red Bomber on April 18.
Downhearted also gave the trainer a milestone, posting his 100th winner for the 2014-15 season.
Schofield went to England in May and was based with the Ed Dunlop stable at Newmarket.
He made a trip to his native South Africa where he rode at the Durban July meeting, before returning to Australia early last week.
“It’s good to be home,” Schofield said.
“I had three months of travel where I rode in England and South Africa.
“It’s the first winner back so it’s good to get that out of the way and hopefully I can keep it rolling going forward.”
Schofield will take up a contract to ride in Hong Kong from the start of the new season in September.