Former champion US jockey Ramon Perez can vividly recall when the fire first burnt out.

“It was at the Turf Paradise track in Arizona on March 21, 2001,” Perez recalls.

“I’d just ridden a winner and remember returning to the jockeys’ room and slumping down with my head in my hands not having enjoyed the moment at all.

“After the race I couldn’t wait to get off the horse and get out of there. I knew then I had to make a change and it ended up being my last ride before going to school to become a vet.

“That was almost 25 years ago now.”

In 1995, at just 18 years of age, Perez won the prestigious Eclipse Award for US champion apprentice.

It was yet another notch on the belt of an emerging riding career which had already heralded two Group 1 wins at Belmont Park at just 17 years of age.

“The success came really quickly for me early on,” Perez, who rode 390 winners in the states, said.

“I won the first two races I ever rode in and being a 17-year-old growing up in New York I just thought that was how the next 40 years was going to be.

“But I was pretty tall and my longevity was always going to be questionable and I started to struggle as I got a bit older.

“Looking back now I just wasn’t mentally strong enough to deal with the peaks and valleys that jockeys run into.

“Had you asked me 25 years ago I would have blamed weight for walking away and the same even 10 years ago.

“But being honest it was more the mental fitness that held me back in those days.”

Young jockey Ramon Perez after winning a race as an apprentice in the USA.

While the book had appeared to be closed on Perez’s riding career, the 47-year-old added a new chapter on Friday, riding at the famous once-a-year Bong Bong Picnic meeting.

And just like he’d done at Turf Paradise 9,011 days earlier, Perez returned a winner, guiding Aegipan to victory for good mate Pat Murphy with a little more than a short-head to spare.

It was one of two rides for Perez on the day, finishing third on Nagadec two races later to cap off a successful – and emotional – return to the saddle.

“It was a fine line because I only got the clearance from the stewards to ride last Tuesday,” Perez said.

“I’d been ticking the boxes for Racing NSW to get my licence and rode at the Nowra trials on Monday before getting the green light.

“Pat (Murphy) is a client of mine and he’s played a big part in getting me back into the saddle.

“I was glad I could repay the faith with a winner.”

While a $5,750 Bong Bong picnic win is a far cry from the bright lights of Group 1 wins at Belmont Park, Perez said the victory brought him no end of satisfaction.

“I’ve already watched the Bong Bong replay more times than I have my two Group 1 wins,” Perez said.

“It was just great to feel that joy and excitement again that I’d lost all those years ago.

“The fire never leaves you, it’s always there lingering, you just sometimes need to know how to restart it.”

Ramon Perez riding one of his almost 400 winners as an apprentice in the USA.

And for Perez he says it is a combination of things.

“Watching my old boss Billy Mott win the Kentucky Derby earlier in the year with Sovereignty played a part,” Perez said.

“But my partner Charlotte has played a huge part as well.

“We’ve been together for two years now and I wish she’d been around 25 years ago because things might have been different.

“My weight had got up to 73kg but I’m down to 62kg now and it all has to do with Charlotte getting me on the right path with nutrition and exercise.

“60kg is the goal.”

While Perez, who came to Australia in 2010 for a one-year internship but in his own words “never left”, has no immediate plans to continue his return to the saddle, he said he’d be lying if Friday’s joyous return hadn’t stoked the fire.

“I’m in my best shape mentally and physically when I’m riding horses,” Perez said.

“So we’ll see what happens. At the moment I’m only licensed for the picnics but if the opportunity came to get to the provincials I wouldn’t say no.

“But it’s just one step at a time.”

And while more than content with how life panned out, plying his trade as a fully fledged veterinarian, Perez says there are moments where he stops and thinks what might have been.

“There’s mornings where you think about what if you’d done this or that differently,” Perez said.

“I took a lot of that early success for granted and it’s easy to look back and think you’re the typical story of wasted talent.

“Yes, there’s certainly regrets but the focus now is looking forward and days like Friday definitely help.

“To see the joy it brought the people around me made it all the more special.”