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Dwayne Dunn will represent Australia at the annual Air Mauritius and Attitude International Jockeys’ Weekend (IJW) in Mauritius on December 1 and 2.
Dunn will be doing battle against 11 other jockeys hailing from eight other countries. They are two-time IJW winner Maxime Guyon (2014 and 2016), Aurelien Lemaitre and Mickaelle Michel from France, Robbie Fradd from South Africa (but previously based in Brisbane and selected as the Mauritius champion jockey), Seamus Heffernan from Ireland, Manoel Nunes from Brazil, Manuel Martinez from Chile, Troy See from Singapore, Akshay Kumar from India, Nooresh Juglall from Mauritius/Singapore and either Jameer Allyhosain or Brandon Louis as the leading Mauritian jockey.
As per previous editions, rides will be allocated through a draw which will be held at the Attitude Ravenala Hotel on Wednesday, November 28. The championship will be decided over 15 races – eight on Saturday and seven (one race for the Fegentri amateur lady riders race) on Sunday – through a point system.
Dunn said Mauritius was on his bucket list of countries he had always wanted to ride in, and when the invitation from the Mauritius Turf Club came, he did not have to think too long.
“Mauritius is a place I’ve always wanted to ride at. It will be interesting to see for myself how it’s run and the atmosphere,” said Dunn.
“It’s a tight racing circuit and is very competitive, and obviously, horse racing plays a big role in Mauritius.
“I’ve spoken to my good friend Steven Arnold who had a lot of success there last year. He gave me a good insight about the track, the races and the different players.”
Dunn, who is not at his first jockeys’ challenge, would obviously love to ride at least one winner in Mauritius, but a lot will depend on the luck of the draw.
“I heard there are two to three pretty solid trainers, and hopefully, I can get one or two of their horses,” said Dunn who rode in similar contests in New Zealand, Hong Kong and Macau where he won an apprentice jockeys’ series.
“You need good quality of rides, good barrier draws, and also a bit of luck.”
Last year, Australia’s representative Luke Nolen unfortunately had no luck at the series. Not only he did not win any race, but he was also stood down on the second day through a foot injury.
Besides the thrill of pitting his skills against jockeys from all over the world, the sun, beach and golf, Dunn who will be travelling to Mauritius with his wide Amanda, was looking forward to something else – reuniting with a person who had quite an input in his riding career.
“There’s a person in Mauritius who played a part in my career when I was an apprentice jockey in Adelaide, Simon Jones,” said Dunn.
“He was the stable rider to my master, John Hall. I haven’t seen him since he left and I’m looking forward to seeing him again after more than 20 years.
“I heard he’s now a trainer. It’ll be cool if I draw one of his horses!”
Australian jockeys have been regular fixtures at almost every renewal of the Mauritius jockeys’ series since its inception in 1984. Some notable names to have ridden at the Champ de Mars racecourse at that meeting which always brings the curtain down on the Mauritius season are Brent Thomson, Wayne Harris, Kevin Moses, Darren Gauci, Damien Oliver, Chris Munce (winner in 2002), Corey Brown, Kerrin McEvoy, Jim Cassidy, Noel Callow (winner in 2007 and 2012), Shane Dye, Hugh Bowman, brothers Nash and Brad Rawiller, and Mark Zahra.
