Donovan Dillon after winning on Brok Cafe on November 19. (Picture: via meta)
Donovan Dillon has made a welcome return to the winner’s enclosure in Australia after being out for a long time due to a serious injury.
He said in February this year that his absence from race-riding since October 2023 had been due to a horse kicking him in the thigh and tearing the muscle off the bone.
He added at the time, “It has been a crazy ride since we’ve been here. I’m not racing as much as I used to, small yard but massive name that we are behind (Arrowfield Stud). We have a couple of months left before we can apply for permanent residency and once that happens I think things open up a lot more and we will have a lot more freedom. I will obviously still work for Arrowfield in the mornings, but I will be looking to ride in races seven times a week. I’m trying to get my weight right down to a natural 54 to 55kg so I can freelance and race all day everyday. I have put it in my sights that I want to go for the title in 2024/2025. I do think I can accomplish that with the racing I’ve had here already.”
He made his comeback on July 29.
However, he is still awaiting his permanent reisdency and has only had five rides in all this year, including winning on the Paul Messara & Leah Gavranich-trained Mikki Isle filly Brok Cafe in a 1300m event at Scone last week on Monday.
Donovan extracted a strong finish from Brok Cafe from last place in a small five horse field to get up in the final couple of strides. He is now three from three on Brok Cafe.
In Donovan’s first season in Australia (2022/2023) he had 9 wins at a strike rate of 33.3% and he had a place strike rate of 70.4%.
The talented former KZN Champion Apprentice and South African Jockey Academy headboy will be a rider to follow once he gets that long awaited permanent residency.
