DU PLESSIS: A SATISFACTORY SET OF RESULTS FOR APRIL

By Graham Potter | Saturday, April 30, 2022

Mark Du Plessis guided home seven winners for six different trainers during the month of April … a satisfactory return for his first month back in the saddle after short break and ankle surgery.

Those results included a Saturday Metropolitan winner for every week in April, no mean task given the competitive nature of the riding ranks in South-East Queensland.

The trainer he won twice for was Shaun Dwyer … and both of those successes came aboard the Tycoon Ruler gelding Last Chance.

“I’ve only had those two rides for Shaun Dwyer,” said Du Plessis. “I’d obviously heard a lot about Shaun before. He was training here when I first came to Australia … then he went to Melbourne and now he has come back.

“He is very easy to ride for … I know I can say that because I’ve had two rides and two wins for him … and he is obviously a very good trainer.

“You do need a bit of luck, but to get an older horse like Last Chance into that winning frame of mind like Shaun has done is really a testament to how well he looks after his horses.

“I mean, that was his sixteenth win,” continued Du Plessis. “I know he is only a six-year-old, but to get a horse to win ten races … it doesn’t matter where it is … is a great achievement … but to win sixteen, and the last two in a row at this stage of his career, all credit to Shaun for that.

Du Plessis’s other winning rides in April came for trainers Peter Lindeberg, Stuart McKinnon, Chris Munce, Kelly Schweida and last, but not least, for the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott training partnership.

The Waterhouse and Bott names were significant in that list because they represented visiting trainers, an important option for jockeys looking to secure decent rides over the highly competitive Queensland Winter Carnival months.

To that end, Du Plessis rides for the likes Annabel Neasham and Lloyd Kennewell during April could prove to be a good foothold moving forward.

“I’ve never been one to try and sugar-coat anything,” volunteered Du Plessis. “I got that ride for Waterhouse and Bott because of the weight (52kg). They might have rung up for another jockey but Cameron (Partington – Du Plessis manager) put my name forward and Gai didn’t hesitate, luckily. She said no problem and that led to me having my first winner for the stable in my first ride for them.

“Every little bit helps.

“Riding winners for any stable is good, but obviously riding winners for high profile stables get a greater share of attention … and I believe that riding winners for those types of trainers, particularly at tis time of year, can give you a real boost.

“We’ll see how we go.”

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