Dwayne Dunn has extended his lead to five wins in the Melbourne jockeys’ premiership but will miss next Saturday’s Flemington meeting after being suspended at Moonee Valley.
Dunn won aboard stablemates Longeron and then Firsthand at Saturday’s Moonee Valley meeting but was banned for 10 meetings after pleading guilty to careless riding aboard the latter in the Kane Constructions Handicap.
Dunn has gained a release from his rides at Geelong on Monday and Pakenham on Tuesday and will start the suspension immediately to enable him to resume riding at the Sandown city meeting on Wednesday week.
That means the only metropolitan meeting he is set to miss is next Saturday as there is no midweek city meeting in Victoria next week.
Dunn is chasing his first Melbourne premiership.
Craig Williams started Saturday three wins behind Dunn but he went winless at Moonee Valley.
Stewards took into account Dunn’s guilty plea and good record in regards to the careless riding suspensions this season but ruled the carelessness was in the mid-range.
Dunn acknowledged Firsthand wobbled around the turn which left enough room for a horse to his inside but said he wasn’t aware Bassett had improved to his inside when shifting back in at the 100m mark.
Bassett’s jockey Daniel Stackhouse was forced to check his mount before finishing third.
Stackhouse fired in a protest, third against first, but it was dismissed with stewards saying the margins of a nose by 2-1/2 lengths was too great.
