Dan Griffin seals ninth Gold Coast jockeys premiership

Dan Griffin has sealed his ninth Gold Coast jockeys premiership with a meeting to go after riding four winners at the track on the weekend.

DAN Griffin has sealed his ninth Gold Coast jockeys premiership with a meeting to go.

Griffin rode four winners at Aquis Park on Saturday, taking his season tally to 41 and securing him an unassailable lead over nearest rivals Luke Dittman (32) and last season’s winner Ryan Plumb (31).

The 37-year-old gave the other hoops a three-month headstart after making an incredible comeback from a broken neck suffered early last year.

It put his life and career under threat and looked to have ended his dream of reaching an incredible 10 jockeys premiership at the Gold Coast.

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That dream is now firmly back on track with the city’s most successful jockey thriving off the recently formed partnership with Gold Coast trainer Les Kelly, who helped take Plumb to the 2017-18 premiership.

“This year was a pretty tough year going through everything and coming back from injury,” Griffin said.

“To bounce back, I really wanted this one.

Racing at Aquis Park Gold Coast Turf Club. Winner of race 3, number 4 AMENZEL. Jockey is Daniel Griffin. Trainer is Les Ross. Photo by Richard Gosling

“I thought going to the races there were two there who could definitely win but to get four was a bloody good day.

“You can’t do it without the support. The support of the Gold Coast Turf Club is huge and without everyone pushing you forward you can’t do it. I’m grateful for all of it.”

Griffin won Kelly’s Amenzel, Ruler and Coulthard along with the Grant Laming-trained Bill the Conqueror.

Kelly is in the box seat to win a second straight Gold Coast trainers premiership, with his three wins giving him a five-point buffer over Toby Edmonds going into the final meeting this week.