Mick Dee is bullish that the clash of the Caulfield Cup and The Everest can once again provide him with a winning opportunity in one of the nation’s premier races.
Despite a Group 1 tally that has rocketed to 14 in recent seasons, Dee admits he’s often not the first choice of trainers and owners that book him for G1 rides.
His Caulfield Cup win on Durston in 2022 came about due to the clash with feature racing in Sydney and his ability to take the ride at 51.5kg, and he’s again hoping an opportunity for the powerful Waller stable can present itself in the coming weeks.
Waller has 11 horses inside the top 30 in the order of entry for next month’s Caulfield Cup.
“The clash of The Everest and the Caulfield Cup is definitely a good thing for a lot of jockeys so I hope I can get a chance in one of those races again,” Dee said.
“The answer always tends to be ‘no’ when it comes to the horses that are up in the weights but often a light weight ride falls my way with Chris Waller’s stable, so hopefully there might be something there again this year.
“It would be nice to be in a position that I’m the one that trainers are chasing and I’m having to knock back offers because I’m already locked into something decent, but it’s pretty clear that there are riders ahead of me in the pecking order.”
“I’m comfortable with that so I take what I can get and try to make the most of every opportunity.”
On Saturday at Caulfield, Dee’s Group 1 opportunities come aboard Te Akau Racing’s Damask Rose in the Rupert Clarke Stakes and Waller’s Land Legend in the Underwoood Stakes.
He also rides one-time Melbourne Cup favourite Berkshire Breeze in the G3 Naturalism Stakes for Ciaron Maher.
Dee said despite a wide draw, Damask Rose can run a cheeky race up to 1400m.
“Both of them (Damask Rose and Land Legend) are drawn the absolute car park,” he said.
“It shouldn’t be too much of an issue for Damask Rose because she gets back anyway but it would have been nice to draw a bit better.”
“Her first-up run was super so if we get any sort of luck, maybe in that three-wide line with cover, I think her turn of foot is good enough to be thereabouts.”
