DAMIEN OLIVER MATCHES GEORGE MOORE'S RECORD OF ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY SIX GROUP 1 WINNERS

By Graham Potter | Thursday, November 4, 2021

Damien Oliver’s career, already punctuated with tales of high achievement, reached rarefied air today when he propelled the James Cummings trained Willowy to a hard-fought victory in the Group 1, $1 million Kennedy Oaks at Flemington.

It was vintage Oliver as his urgings enthusiastically encouraging Willowy, who looked under pressure over the final 100m as the Patrick Payne trained Douceur kept on kicking ahead of Willowy with the finishing line seemingly coming up to quickly for the Godolphin runner.

When it was almost all over, Oliver somehow got Willowy to surge late to ultimately win by a little under 0.25 lengths, pushing the very game effort of Douceur and jockey Michael Dee back into the runner-up position.

Incredibly, this was Oliver’s seventh win in the Oaks (equalling the record of Bobby Lewis) … and for good measure he has won the last three in a row. He won on Miami Bound (2019) and Personal (2020).

But, as good as those statistics are, they were trumped in the achievement stakes by the fact that Willowy was Oliver’s 126th Group 1 winner … a total which puts him alongside the legendary George Moore at the top of the list of Australian Group 1 winning riders.

That is an incredible achievement.

To rise to the top, as they say is one thing. To stay there is altogether something else again … and it hasn’t always been easy sailing for the forty-nine-year-old.

From serious injuries to invasive racing inquiries to the devastation of a personal family tragedy (who will ever forget the way he turned his win on Media Puzzle in the Melbourne Cup into a magnificent, memorable tribute to his late brother) … there has been so much that Oliver has had to overcome since he first appeared as an apprentice in 1988 … yet, whatever the odds, he has kept punching back, kept reminding people that he has remained as good as anyone else in the riding ranks in Australia … and better than most.

Just as he showed once again on Willowy at Flemington in his historic 126th Group 1 win.

Not that it is needed, but if you wanted any more evidence of why you would want Oliver on your horse in a rousing, driving finish … just consider that the three Group 1 winners Oliver has ridden over the 2021 carnival have won by 0.10 lengths (Superstorm in the Cantala Stakes), 0.30 lengths (Collette in the Empire Rose) and 0.20 lengths (Willowy in the Kennedy Oaks).

Of course, the horse has to play its part, but there is no doubt that Oliver is damn hard to beat in a tight finish.

Willowy’s win came just in time for Oliver to move up alongside George Moore on the Group 1 jockey’s honour roll, but he will have to wait a little while before he can hold the record in his own right.

There are two Group 1’s at Flemington this Saturday … the Darley Sprint and the McKinnon Stakes … but Oliver will not be there after picking up a suspension for his ride on Delphi in the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday.

Oliver’s licence to ride has been suspended for a total of eleven meetings commencing at midnight 4 November, 2021 and expiring at midnight 13 November, 2021 (3 metro and 8 provincial meetings).

Oliver signed out with a flourish today.

No doubt there will be another fanfare waiting along the way when he returns.