VETERAN Horsham hoop Dean Yendall has started the 2015-16 season in strong fashion, claiming race five – the $30,000 Millers Horsham Cup Handicap October 30 – on his home track on Sunday.
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It comes just a month after the veteran jockey won his second Victorian premiership following a stellar 2014-15 season in the saddle.
The veteran jockey said his win in the premiership was down to good horses and accommodating trainers.
“It was a good season. I had a lot of rides and I made the most of what I did have,” he said.
“A lot of thanks goes towards the trainers and owners. If it wasn’t for the horses and the trainers I wouldn’t be here.”
The 41-year-old rode a full card on his home track yesterday and was feeling a little worse for wear when he spoke to the Mail-Times after two falls in consecutive days.
Yendall landed badly during a fall on Saturday and was bucked from his mount at the barrier on Sunday before race three but managed to recover and finished second on Hard Rock Candy.
“Not a great start to the season the last couple of days, but hopefully it will improve,” Yendall told the Mail-Times before his win aboard So Does He in the feature event.
“I landed flat on my back behind the barrier. It happened on Saturday as well.”
An ultra-consistent jockey who has a hatful of Victorian country jockeys’ premierships to his name, Yendall is a prolific winner in the country but is also no stranger to metropolitan success.
He has plenty of city wins to his name for trainers such as Darren Weir.
Yendall rates his win aboard Team Hawkes’ Niwot in the 2011 Lexus Stakes as one of his finest, while he partnered the same galloper to a top-10 finish in that year’s Melbourne Cup behind Dunaden.
He is sitting 37th in the 2015-16 Victorian jockeys’ premiership and 21st in the country championship.
Yendall has ridden 1811 winners in a career spanning 24 years, earning more than $30 million in prize money.
His current win rate is 11 per cent while he finishes inside the top three 33 per cent of the time.