Jeff Dunn reveals the happy news his wife is pregnant, which has forced him to find a new jockey for Ramornie Handicap winner Sha Of Gomer’s return this weekend.
Beaudesert trainer Jeff Dunn has been forced to find a new jockey for Ramornie Handicap winner Sha Of Gomer, with the joyful news that his partner Rikki Jamieson is 12 weeks’ pregnant.
Anthony Allen will be in the saddle for an Open Handicap (1110m) at Doomben on Saturday as Dunn prepares for the returning gelding for his Weetwood Handicap grand final in Toowoomba at the end of this month.
“I was tossing up whether to just give him another trial and then go to the Weetwood first-up (on September 27),” Dunn said about Sha Of Gomer.
“But the Weetwood at Toowoomba is uphill, 1200m, so I thought it’d be better for him to have a solid run under his belt going into it.”
The records are sketchy but Dunn and Jamieson joined a rare club when the husband-and-wife team combined to win the $200,000 Listed Ramornie Handicap with Sha Of Gomer on July 16.
A few days later Jamieson told News Corp that she would retire before the end of this year to focus on her family commitments, but that plan has now been fast-tracked with a bundle of joy on the way.
“She’s hung up the riding boots, they’re gone,” Dunn said.
“She’s 12 weeks’ pregnant so she’s out now.
“We’ve obviously got the two girls (Maci and Piper), my brother’s got two girls, and my sister has a girl so we’re aiming for a boy.”
Dunn said he was friends with Allen and his partner Lani and was happy to hand the opportunity to the Brisbane hoop to ride Sha Of Gomer on Saturday.
“Anthony’s been coming out and riding trackwork on Tuesdays and getting to know a lot of horses in my stable, including Sha Of Gomer,” Dunn said.
“He’s going to have a bit of weight (59.5kg) on Saturday this week.
“I’ve never really gone into a race where I won’t be upset if he doesn’t win because it’ll only give us another 2kg in the Weetwood if we do win.
“His coat’s not there yet and his fitness isn’t 100 per cent so he’s certainly got improvement to come.
“I’d like to see him settle just behind the leaders and be running through the line nice and late.”
Dunn said the Ramornie victory had opened doors for his stable but it was still “nowhere near full”.
“It was one of my best days on a racetrack, that’s for sure,” the 32-year-old former stunt performer said.
“To have Rikki in the saddle took it to another level for me and we’ve got a great bunch of owners on this horse.
“It was very surreal to be honest. Since then we’ve attracted some new owners into the stable and some new horses which has taken us from strength to strength in a way.
“The difficult thing about being a young trainer is just getting a go. It’s not really an industry where trainers turn 65 and retire, they keep going.
“Some trainers don’t win a good race like that (Ramornie Handicap) until they hit that age but we’ve been lucky enough to snag one this early on and hopefully it’s just the beginning.”
punters.com.au
By Daniel Pace
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