Damien Oliver was only 20 when he registered his first win in the 1992 Victoria Derby on Redding, who had only a second placing from eight starts going into the blue riband event.
In the years since Oliver, who turned 46 in June, has risen to the heights to become a member of the Australian Racing Hall of Fame and to be an eight-time winner of the Scobie Breasley Medal.
He has also ridden four more winners – Amalfi (2001), Elvstroem (2003), Fiveandahalfstar (2012) and Preferment (2014) – of the Derby.
That places him clearly ahead of jockeys riding in the present day but three behind the record holder Bobby Lewis, who rode eight Victoria Derby winners between 1900 and 1927.
However, Oliver’s chances of adding to his tally this year and narrowing the leeway between himself and Lewis are not particularly bright.
For his mount Grinzinger Star, despite an encouraging last start third to Home Ground and Farooq in the Geelong Classic, is being quoted at $51.
Hugh Bowman is nearest to Oliver among jockeys currently riding with three Victoria Derby wins on Lion Tamer (2010), Sangster (2011) and Polanski (2013).
He will be guiding Home Ground, who is at $21 with betting agencies, so his chances of adding to his total appear are not forlorn – certainly better than Oliver’s anyway.
Surprisingly only one other jockey with a mount in the race this year – Tye Angland, who will be on Aramayo – has a previous winner to his credit.
That was Ace High, who scored in most impressive fashion last year when forced to race wide for most of the way.
After a second to Maid of Heaven in the Spring Champion Stakes at Randwick and a third in the Moonee Valley Vase Aramayo is a $6 second favourite to Thinkin’ Big.
Following a third in the Spring Champion Stakes, when he was 2.3 lengths behind Aramayo, Thinkin’ Big redeemed himself in brilliant style by bolting away with the Caulfield Classic.
His 32-year-old jockey Tim Clark is riding in exceptional form and can have every confidence that the Waterhouse-Bott combination will have the preparation of Thinkin’ Big timed to perfection.
The Derby is a race Gai Waterhouse won with Nothin’ Leica Dane in 1995 and he went on to finish second to Doriemus in the Melbourne Cup three days later.
That, in all likelihood, will be the task set for Thinkin’ Big if he comes through the Derby as successfully as his odds of $2.80 indicate.
By Graeme Kelly
StrathAyr an absolute winner
The quality and reliability of the StrathAyr Turf Solutions racing surfaces have never been more clearly demonstrated than in the period from October 10 to 19.
With rain lashing Queensland during those dates nine race meetings were abandoned, at a massive cost to the industry.
Yet within that same time span the StrathAyr tracks at Clifford Park in Toowoomba and the Ooralea racecourse in Mackay came through with flying colours.
After a deluge in the days leading up to the meeting at Clifford Park on October 15 the going was rated a soft 6, which prompted Sky Thoroughbred Central presenter Michael Maxworthy to say “everyone is giving the track the thumbs up”.
He went to suggest that other meetings could be transferred to the track.
It was a similar story three days later at Ooralea when the rating was a good 4 after 24mm of rain had fallen in the preceding week and 1mm in the previous 24 hours.
This led commentator Russell Leonard to say the StrathAyr track was “racing at its best”.
Leonard went on to describe the course surface as “terrific”.
The comments by Maxworthy and Leonard are a further tribute to StrathAyr Turf Solutions which has been continually upgrading its product through research and development since putting down its first racetracks in Hong Kong 30 years ago.
It is also the surface Winx appreciated when she was responsible for one of the most poignant moments in world racing history by registering an unprecedented fourth Cox Plate victory at Moonee Valley.