Buy me a beer award……By Tommy from Campbelltown

This weeks award winner Jean Van Overmeire.
This weeks award winner Jean Van Overmeire.

Hi Fans and Punters,

I had a week off last week out of respect for fallen rider Darren Jones. Darren left behind a wife and 2 kids and may he rest in peace.

The Championships finished at Randwick which never dried out despite good weather late in the week. I am not sure what the problem is there but the track has been a problem since the 1980’s and despite the staff doing a great job with what they have to work with, it is not improving. Please fix it.

Some notable performances over the last fortnight. The riding of my brothers Damian Lane and Kerrin McEvoy has been outstanding. They have both contacted me and asked for the Award but I explained them the rules, that is, if you ask you do not receive, so they have been put on hold for a few weeks.

This week’s Award winner came out of the blue really. I was at Nowra races on Easter Sunday and late in the day I was watching a couple of races from Mudgee, mainly because my good friend Merwan Salameh had a couple of horses in. I had a good time recently with him and Disco Dave Carlson at the races and was keen to watch them go around.

The first of them was in race 6, Tycoon Mar. It drew the extreme outside in a big field and I watched the race closely with racing legend John Scorse and outstanding young caller Luke Marlow.

The horse jumped ok from wide out but was caught 5 wide going into the first turn. Suddenly, the jockey gave it a little squeeze, got past a couple who were being restrained and ended up fourth, one out. The rider sat patiently until well into the long Mudgee straight and then let it go at the 100-metre mark to dash away and win easily. I was impressed by the ride and suggested to Scorsey that it looked like Chad Lever aboard. We looked at the racebook and discovered it was a young bloke named Jean Van Overmeire (no relation to Jean Claude Van Damme ) a claiming apprentice. Surely it had to be a fluke we thought although Scorsey was adamant that the kid could ride.

We didn’t have to wait long to find out. He rode the favourite Balius in the last for the same connections and trainer Garry Neale. Carrying a huge weight, 59.5kg, he bounced it out of the gates and sat it midfield on the fence not spending a penny in the run. He saved every inch of ground coming around the turn, deftly eased 3 wide approaching the furlong pole and rode hands and heels to the line for a soft win. I was impressed, so impressed in fact that I did a bit of homework on the kid.

Jean is 22, originally from South Africa although we won’t hold that against him, was educated in England and rode work there and in Dubai and Hong Kong before coming to Oz about 18 months ago. He has only been riding in races for about 6 months and is apprenticed to the astute Kiwi and serial pest Bjorn Baker. He has ridden about 30 odd winners and from what I have seen, he has a huge future and should be followed closely. Those 2 rides were fantastic for such an inexperienced rider and I am looking forward to seeing where Jean goes from here.

So Jean, I know you South Africans are very “careful” with your money but when you locate your wallet, give me a call, come and find me and buy me a beer.

Until next week this has been Tommy from Campbelltown…………….signing off.

Follow me on twitter @wpasterfield

 

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