A near-miss in a Group 1 race has given apprentice Tyler Schiller a taste for the big time and he is hoping to parlay that into a career milestone when he partners Expat in the Coolmore Classic at Rosehill.

Schiller came within centimetres of celebrating his first major when Ruthless Dame was edged out by Sunshine In Paris in a photo finish to the Surround Stakes two weeks ago.

That experience has only fuelled his fire to land a Group 1 win and his next chance comes aboard Expat for boss Mark Newnham in Saturday’s Coolmore Classic (1500m).

“I thought I actually got it, I was that excited,” Schiller said of the Surround Stakes finish.

“I came back to a little bit of disappointment, although you can’t be too disappointed with second.

“I’ve reached most of my goals in my apprenticeship and hopefully I can get a Group One before I finish my apprenticeship.”

Expat was fifth to Lighthouse in last year’s Coolmore Classic after winning the Millie Fox Stakes (1300m) first-up.

Newnham has followed the same path with the mare this autumn, Expat rebounding from an indifferent spring to finish runner-up to Electric Girl in the Millie Fox Stakes, the winner since franking the form with a Group 1 Canterbury Stakes placing.

The one negative is the likelihood of a firm Rosehill track given Expat has posted seven or her eight wins on rain-affected ground, but she does love the circuit and only just missed on a good surface last start.

“The way she went first-up on the good track, if she can handle it again second-up, she’s in very good form, she’s come back well and hopefully she’ll be tough again,” Schiller said.

Ruthless Dame will be among Expat’s rivals in the Coolmore and will be ridden by Dylan Gibbons, another apprentice chasing a Group 1 breakthrough.

Schiller was already committed to Expat so he couldn’t stick with the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained filly but he expected her to give the race a shake.

“She is a tough three-year-old and while she’s coming out of three-year-old company, she’s got a fighting chance there,” he said.

Interestingly, the Coolmore Classic has an incredible record of providing young riders with their first major.

Corey Brown (Camino Rose, 1999), Kathy O’Hara (Ofcourseican, 2012), Linda Meech (Plucky Belle, 2015), Sam Clipperton (Peeping, 2016) and Andrew Adkins (Daysee Doom, 2018) have all celebrated their first Group 1 wins in the race.