Mitchell Cushing made his very first start as a provisional driver on Saturday (April 2) and wasted precious little time in finding the Scarborough Downs' winner's circle.

Sign Of Thunder was brave all the way to the finish line, capping off a great gate-to-wire performance in the afternoon's first race. The 11-year-old Life Sign gelding won by half a length over J Patch in 1:59.4 as the 28-1 longest shot on the board.

While this may have been the first "P" win for Cushing, it was the 50th career score for Sign Of Thunder.

Cushing, who is the son of horseman Ron Cushing, also owns Sign Of Thunder while Heidi Gibbs handles the training duties.

(With files from Scarborough Downs)