Donovan Dillon pictured after a winning ride at the Wellington Race Club in New South Wales on Tuesday
Donovan Dillon should make a breakthrough next season in Australia, considering his first ride as a permanent resident was only on January 2 this year and he has accumulated 29 wins in the seven months that were remaining of the season and has done it at a decent strike rate of 12% and has a place strike rate of 34%.
Donovan previously rode exclusively for the small racing yard at the famous Arrowfield stud farm where he was based and rides were few and far between and he was also out for a long time with a serious thigh injury.
He can now look forward to a full season and will be hoping to draw the attention of the Metropolitan yards.
His 29 wins put him in 229th position on the Australian log.
However, if he doubles that in a full season of riding he would be on the second page of the log between 85th and 90th on the log.
He said a couple of years ago he believed he could make it to the top in Australia and he is going about it in the right way.
On the same page as Donovan are some other names who will be known to South African fans:
It is heartwarming to see Heavelon van der Hoven doing well with 31 wins at a strike rate of 11.6%. He was battling in Cape Town at one stage, although he did take home one of the biggest riding cheques in South African history when winning the 2016 CTS Million Dollar on the Glen Puller-trained Illuminator having got the ride only on the morning of the race thanks to a sore back causing Weichong to book off. Heavelon earned a cheque of about R630,000 for the chance ride.
Brandon Lerena has had 31 wins at 13%.
Karl Zechner has had 30 wins at a strike rate of 8.3%.
Jaden Lloyd, son of legendary South African jockey Jeff Lloyd, has had 27 wins at 11.7%.
Jeff’s sensational younger son Zac is in 21st position on the Austrakian log with 97 wins at 1.3% and earnings of $14,566,360.
