Nash Rawiller and Kerrin McEvoy shared riding honours with a double each at Randwick on Wednesday as their very different seasons come to a close.
Rawiller will be crowned Sydney’s premier jockey for the second year running and is taking a short holiday before he gears up for the spring.
McEvoy spent the first part of the season sidelined with a serious back injury and his momentum was stopped again in the autumn when he was out for a month with broken ribs, both injuries the result of race falls.
His goals for the season were revised but he has made a fist of a scaled-down ambition to ride at least one winner at the final 10 meetings of the season.
With seven to go he is already halfway there and it hasn’t been all bad with McEvoy riding the winners of all five juvenile Group One races this year.
“I set myself a target of 10 winners for the last 10 meetings, I’ve got five so it’s going pretty well,” McEvoy said.
“I set myself a target of 65 Sydney winners when I came back but the last fall put paid to that.
“I’d like to end in the high 50s.”
McEvoy has 51-1/2 for 2010/11 so far while Rawiller is on 91.
Rawiller has abandoned his quest to ride 100 winners in favour of spending time with his children over the school holidays.
His Randwick double came aboard Titbit for leading trainer Chris Waller and Pregrada for Clarry Conners.
McEvoy claimed the honours on Bereft for the Darley team before picking up the winning ride on the Waller-trained Sparton when Glyn Schofield was taken ill.
Schofield, who is appealing a careless riding suspension due to begin after Saturday, was stood down with dehydration.
He said he expected to be able to ride on Thursday.
Waller’s double widened the gap on Darley trainer Peter Snowden to 23-1/2 as he powers towards his first premiership.
“It’s been a good season and we are building on it for next season,” he said.
“We have a lot of nice horses coming through.”
AAP TURF
