3 minute read

Victorian jockey James Winks is raising the bar as he gears up for a second Mauritius stint starting from March.

Winks impressed the Indian Ocean island racegoers last year with the way he landed as trainer Patrick Merven’s retained jockey halfway through the season in July, quickly stamping his authority to go and boot home 19 winners for a healthy strike rate of 19.4% and a fifth finish on the Mauritius jockey’s premiership.

This time, he is aiming for the top prize.

“I had a great season in Mauritius last year. I finished in the Top 5 after joining in late, but I’m starting from Day 1 this time and I’m targeting to win the premiership,” said Winks who returned to Melbourne with his young family in December shortly after the Mauritius season wrapped up.

“It was good to catch up with friends and relatives back home over the Christmas break, but I’m really looking forward to riding for Patrick for another season.”

Winks said he knew precious little about Mauritius racing last year, but after a few meetings getting used to the tricky Champ de Mars track and sussing out the competition, he hit his straps. He even went on to represent Australia alongside Brad Rawiller and Mark Zahra at their international jockeys’ challenge on December 3 and 4, again showing his class with two winners and a runner-up finish to French star Maxime Guyon.

After such a stellar performance, Merven and his owners unsurprisingly renewed their faith in Winks for the new 2017 season which kicks off on March 25 and lasts until the end of November.

To help him realise his bold ambitions, Winks is banking on a mixture of the older horses and new blood joining the stable.

“Patrick has bought 15 new horses from South Africa, and I’m really excited about that,” he said.

“I’m definitely counting on last year’s good horses like Beluga and Sir Earl Grey, but we also need new horses to stay competitive.”

Winks will have plenty of time to test out the new recruits and reunite with his old partners as he is booked to fly back on March 12, two weeks before the curtain raiser.

In the meantime, he will continue to ride in barrier trials around Victoria, mainly for trainer John O’Shea, and may even get a race ride.

“I was not planning to ride in races here until Mauritius, just barrier trials, but I might have a ride for O’Shea next Saturday if it gets my weight,” said Winks.