Three wins in the first six races by Damien Oliver at Bendigo has ended any hope of Dwayne Dunn winning the Melbourne jockeys’ premiership.
A careless riding suspension Dunn incurred last week ruled him out of Wednesday’s Bendigo metropolitan meeting and also the final two city meetings of the season this Saturday at Caulfield and Sunday at Ballarat.
Dunn held a two-win lead over Oliver and Craig Williams going into Wednesday but Oliver erased that deficit and then went one win clear of Dunn’s season tally after six races at Bendigo.
Oliver rode winners in back-to-back races on Pink Perfection and I Am Grouse to draw level with Dunn before taking the outright lead when he guided the Ciaron Maher-trained Barely A Scent to victory in the sixth race.
It leaves Oliver and Williams as the only jockeys still in contention for the Melbourne premiership.
Williams rode an early winner at Bendigo on three-year-old Robbie’s Star.
