Blake Shinn has widened the gap in the Melbourne Jockeys’ Premiership despite riding through illness, lifting his Sandown form with a winning treble on Wednesday to edge seven clear of Craig Williams with only four city meetings left in the season.
The champion hoop got off to a flyer, taking out the opening two events before striking again mid-card, a strong return given this was just his third metropolitan meeting back from the injury layoff that was originally tipped to end his season.
He’d resumed at Sandown last week without a win and came up with a pair of seconds at Caulfield on Saturday, but the tide turned sharply here.
Shinn said he felt unwell after guiding the $2.35 betting site favourite Ad Vitam to victory in the Sportsbet Jockey Watch Plate (1400m), then steering $2.50 elect Exit to success in the Tobin Brothers Celebrating Lives Handicap (1300m).
He later completed the three-win haul aboard Kira ($6.50) in the Sportsbet Race Replays Handicap (1400m), while Williams drew a blank on the day.
“I’m fit, but I’m battling a virus, so I don’t feel the best,” Shinn said.
“I’ve come back from a hot climate in Singapore and Phuket to the winter here.
“I’ve picked up a bit of a bug, so I don’t feel the best at the moment and hopefully I will be able to shrug that off in the next week or so.
“I’m riding 56 kilos today, which is around my minimum, but I would like to be feeling a bit better than I am, but that’s part and parcel of the job and we keep turning up.”
The premiership stoush has been fought in good spirits, with both riders long-time admirers of each other’s achievements—Williams chasing a tenth title, Shinn looking for his fourth.
“I’ve been back a week now, and it was going to take a bit of time building the rides back up, but I knew I would be strong at the back-end of the season,” Shinn said.
“It’s a good battle. We all love Craig and what he does for the industry.
“He’s a legendary jockey and good for the sport, but it’s going to go down to the wire, and my focus is one meeting at a time and concentrating on the job at hand.”
The duel shifts to Flemington on Saturday: Shinn is booked for seven of nine races, Williams for eight.
Shinn is particularly taken with lightly raced Ad Vitam, prepared by Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young, after the gelding’s sharp maiden breakthrough at start number two.
“The benefit of that first start at Sale helped him,” Shinn said.
“He was good in the gates and jumped better. He hadn’t shown any tactical speed in his jump-outs, and I expected him to be back, but he got into a nice position, blended into the dip well, and quickened like a decent horse.
“I like the way he finished that race off. Mentally he’s still six months away but he’s got a good engine there.”
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