Nugent, a former student at Brauer College, told The Standard he would ride Elite Drake in the prestigious sprint race over 1200 metres at the revamped two-day Warrnambool carnival.

"It's great to be coming back home to ride in the Wangoom and it would be even better if I could win the race," he said.

"The Wangoom is such an iconic race. Elite Drake should be a nice ride. I've been happy with my form. It's very competitive in the jockey ranks.

"The win on Spot Of Irish is important because it keeps your name out there with owners and trainers. Spot Of Irish is a nice horse. I think there's still a bit of improvement in him."

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Nugent, 21, has been riding for just over two years and has ridden 160 career winners.

"I've only got to ride five more winners in town and my city claim will be down to 1.5 kilograms," he said.

"I've got no claim left in the country but I can't complain, I've been a lot more successful than I would have hoped for in such a short time."

Nugent said the racing industry and its stakeholders had done a marvellous job to keep racing going during the coronavirus pandemic.

"The industry has broken the jockeys into two teams," he said.

"I'm one of about 20 jockeys in the green team. The green team of jockeys is in proper isolation. We can't ride trackwork.

"We just ride in races while the gold team can ride trackwork. It's really strange to ride at meetings without owners and crowds but it's great we've been able to keep racing going in such a difficult time."

Nugent, who is apprenticed to Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, has six rides for the stable at Echuca on Monday.

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