Champion jockey Damien Oliver has had a fairytail finish to his illustrious riding career riding three winners at his last three rides.
Oli had a good book of rides at Ascot but had to wait until race seven to get his first winner steering favourite Devine Belief to win before backing it up to win the eight on the card aboard Magnificent Andy and just to cap things off for the Legendary jockey he gave Munhamek a peach of a ride to win the $1.5m Damien Oliver Gold Rush named in his honour. A fitting fairwell to arguably the best jockey the country has ever seen.
Oliver started his career as a 15-year-old in 1988, riding his first winner – a horse called Mr Gudbud – at Bunbury, before moving east where he put together one of the all-time great careers.
Oliver won an Australian record 129 Group 1 races, including three Melbourne Cups, four Caulfield Cups, two Cox Plates and a Golden Slipper, 10 Melbourne jockeys’ premierships, 11 Scobie Breasley medals and a place in the Hall of Fame.
The biggest wins have come outside WA, but Oliver is glad his home state is where it is ending.
“Doing the Spring Carnival in Melbourne, which has always been great for me (was good), but to put something back into Perth racing, which gave me my start, I felt that was quite fitting.”
The treble hit the pockets of wagering sites with all three of Oli’s rides heavily backed on the card with the treble paying 85-1.
Watch Damien Oliver’s win in the Damien Oliver Gold Rush a race named in his honour 🏇 👇
Watch Damien Oliver’s win at Ascot on Devine Belief 🏇 👇
Watch Damien Oliver’s win at Ascot on Magnificent Andy 🏇 👇
