Jockey Jimmy Orman ignores family to stick with a winner in Gem Of Scotland
Family comes first, but not this time with jockey James Orman deciding to stick with Gem Of Scotland instead of his other choice and it paid handsomely at Doomben.
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Jimmy Orman had to “go against the family” to stick with promising filly Gem Of Scotland and the pair came up trumps in a ripper return to racing at Doomben.
Orman is also the regular rider of The Odyssey, who is raced by a team of owners that include the family of his fiancee Heidi Whalley.
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Orman won three races on The Odyssey last season, including the $500,000 Aquis Jewel, but received the blessing to switch horses on Saturday.
“It’s a family horse and it hurt, but you have to make tough choices sometimes,” he said.
Orman won three times on Gem Of Scotland last season and he had also won on Written With Ease, who was an eye-catching second.
“I was in a pretty good place to assess the form and it didn’t surprise me to see Written With Ease right up there, because she had trialled really well too,” he said.
As it panned out, Orman made the right call and he told trainer Rex Lipp post-race he would stick with Gem Of Scotland wherever she went.
Having seen her return a winner, Lipp suggested Gem Of Scotland had the potential to be right up with the better horses he had trained.
“She has been working well, she’s got bigger and stronger, but they still have to produce it,” he said.
“I’ve had good two-year-olds and (they show) nothing as three-year-olds.
“On that run today she has gone forward.”
Lipp, who also bred the filly, agreed with Orman’s assessment that Gem Of Scotland would be better ridden more conservatively.
“It’s not really the way to ride her, but the way the track is playing, you had to be there,” he said.
“I think she will run 1400m to 1600m.
“The main thing was to come back, still produce what we thought she had and she’s come out today and done it.”
SLEEPING GIANT AWAKENS AT RIGHT TIME
Meet Mr Taylor gave connections and punters the usual heart flutters before digging deep in his customary style to resume a winner.
Starting $1.40, the Kelly Schweida-trained five-year-old looked under siege halfway up the running, but had reserves in the tank and came away on the line.
“I think the trial (last Tuesday) took the edge off him,” Schweida said.
“He sort of half missed the start and he’s normally more brilliant than that.
“The good thing was how strong he was at the finish.”
Jockey Mark Du Plessis said Meet Mr Taylor had changed his demeanour as he had got older.
“He used to be half a lunatic. Now you have to wake him up,” Du Plessis said.
“It’s not usually Kelly’s go to trial them (in the week of the race) but it was the only option he had.
“So he possibly wasn’t at his best, but he’s still come away from them at the end.”
Du Plessis suggested Meet Mr Taylor was now racing in a manner that could allow him to get beyond 1200m at some stage of his career.
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HARROVIAN SNAPS UP RECORD CASH HAUL
The Harrovian landed the biggest purse ever on a North Queensland racetrack when he bolted home with yesterday’s Cairns Amateurs Cup.
As winner of the Townsville and Cairns Cups leading in, The Harrovian was in the running for the $150,000 Northern Crowns Bonus for winning three races in the series, which provided a $50,000 kicker if one of those happened to be the Amateurs Cup (2100m).
Combined with the race’s $87,000 first prize, it was a big payday for the son of Fastnet Rock.
Hall of Fame jockey Robert Thompson rode the Stephen Massingham-trained and Tom Hedley-owned stayer.
“He’s the best horse in North Queensland by panels, I reckon,” Massingham said.
“He can go to the paddock and we’ll let the dust settle.
“We’ll give him a good break and bring him back later on (but) don’t know when.
“But then we’ll head to Brisbane.”
Originally published as Jockey Jimmy Orman ignores family to stick with a winner in Gem Of Scotland