Blake Shinn edges closer to another Melbourne Jockeys’ Premiership

Battling a virus but riding with trademark determination, Blake Shinn stretched his advantage over Craig Williams in the Melbourne Jockeys’ Premiership with a three-win performance at Sandown on Wednesday.

The 37-year-old rider struck in the opening events and added a third success later in the meeting, creating a seven-win buffer over Williams as the metropolitan season heads into its final four fixtures.

The feat comes just three city meetings into Shinn’s comeback from an injury layoff that was once expected to keep him out until after the season closed. He resumed at Sandown (winless), picked up two seconds at Caulfield on Saturday, then broke through emphatically this week.

His Sandown roll began when the $2.35 betting site favourite Ad Vitam scored in the Sportsbet Jockey Watch Plate (1400m). Shinn then delivered again on $2.50 fancy Exit in the Tobin Brothers Celebrating Lives Handicap (1300m) before partnering Kira ($6.50) to victory in the Sportsbet Race Replays Handicap (1400m).

“I’m fit, but I’m battling a virus, so I don’t feel the best,” Shinn said.

“I’ve come back from a hot climate in Singapore and Phuket to the winter here.

“I’ve picked up a bit of a bug, so I don’t feel the best at the moment and hopefully I will be able to shrug that off in the next week or so.

“I’m riding 56 kilos today, which is around my minimum, but I would like to be feeling a bit better than I am, but that’s part and parcel of the job and we keep turning up.”

Respect runs deep between the two premiership combatants—Williams chasing a tenth crown, Shinn a fourth.

“I’ve been back a week now, and it was going to take a bit of time building the rides back up, but I knew I would be strong at the back-end of the season,” Shinn said.

“It’s a good battle. We all love Craig and what he does for the industry.

“He’s a legendary jockey and good for the sport, but it’s going to go down to the wire, and my focus is one meeting at a time and concentrating on the job at hand.”

They clash again at Flemington on Saturday: Shinn has seven rides booked; Williams has eight.

Shinn is bullish on the upside of Ad Vitam, trained by Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young, after the gelding’s sharp second-start win.

“The benefit of that first start at Sale helped him,” Shinn said.

“He was good in the gates and jumped better. He hadn’t shown any tactical speed in his jump-outs, and I expected him to be back, but he got into a nice position, blended into the dip well, and quickened like a decent horse.

“I like the way he finished that race off. Mentally he’s still six months away but he’s got a good engine there.”

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