The thinning of the ranks of riders available in Melbourne has prompted jockey Blaike McDougall to move south from New South Wales to Victoria with a plan to try and seek out some Spring Carnival success.
There is a very stringent Covid-19 protocol path that McDougall will have to follow to get that opportunity though and he has already started along that road by undertaking his initial quarantine obligations with his manager Hayden Kelly (talking to Racing.com) advising that McDougall will be free to head to Melbourne on September 12.
The plan, according to Kelly, is for McDougall to give Victoria a full go … meaning he will be available to ride work, he will go to the jump outs … almost anywhere in fact … as he looks to try and gather enough support from trainers and owners to make his stay worthwhile and he is prepared to spend enough time in Victoria to help make it happen.
McDougall can present a good resume after riding more winners than anybody else in New South Wales last season and finishing second to Chris Parnham in the National Jockey’s Premiership.
McDougall thus will soon become another piece on the jockey chessboard that is Melbourne at this time … where some survive and others fall by the wayside … and it is a given that he will be working very hard to find the right moves to win the game he has taken on.
