Jay Ford has been living on a diet of fruit and fish and is right on target to get down to 50 kilos to partner Coolmore Classic favourite Espiona in the Group 1 race.

The jockey usually tips the scales at between 53 and 54 kilos, but he is among a handful of riders who can comfortably reduce that at short notice.

“Everyone is different, but I mainly just eat fish and fruit,” Ford said.

“It’s what works for me. Towards the back half of it we will have to have a few sweats to get the last kilo or two off.

“I started dieting on Monday and chip away at it. I have done it enough now to know what I need to do and give myself the right preparation a week out to start trimming down and getting the weight down.”

Ford had a heads-up last week that Chris Waller would need a lightweight rider in the Coolmore Classic (1500m) for at least one of his three-year-olds, with both Espiona and Fangirl handicapped on the minimum.

The hoop was quick to snap up the opportunity, despite not knowing which filly he would ride.

As it turns out, Waller has scratched Fangirl to run in the Phar Lap Stakes (1500m) earlier on Saturday’s program and Ford has the ride on the Coolmore favourite.

While Ford hasn’t partnered Espiona before, he has studied replays of her four career starts and from a better draw in gate four, he is confident she has the raw talent to mix it with the more seasoned mares.

“I’ve never sat on her. I have seen all her starts, she is a pretty high-profile horse and comes with a few wraps on her,” Ford said.

“She is in a hard race taking on the older mares, but she has got a featherweight on her back, she has drawn a nice gate. She looks a really good ride.”

Ford made the most of a similar opportunity from Waller when he partnered lightweight Shraaoh to a Sydney Cup victory in 2019.

He is chasing his first major since then on Saturday when his book also includes the Doncaster Mile-bound Brutality in the Ajax Stakes (1500m).