Michael Dee boots home Flemington treble
Michael Dee has his sights on the Melbourne apprentices’ premiership after a winning treble at Flemington edged him to within striking distance of leader Dylan Dunn.
Dee guided two-year-old colt Trenchant to victory in the opening race on Saturday and added a second win when three-year-old filly Lady Selkirk overcame a chequered passage to take out the Western Otway Handicap.
The 20-year-old brought up his treble on Master Of Arts who chased down his Darren Weir-trained stablemate Falago to win the Wimmera & Murray Mallee Handicap.
Dee has now ridden 27 city winners in Victoria for the season, moving him to within three wins of Dunn in the apprentices’ standings with 10 metropolitan meetings remaining.
“If I can’t win this one, it’s my only chance to win one,” Dee said.
“I’ll be out of my apprenticeship next season.”
“I was pretty confident I should at least ride one winner today and to come away with three is even better,” he said.
Dee finished second in two other races, including being beaten a short half-head by Pin Your Hopes aboard Name The Day in the Gippsland Region Handicap.
Master Of Arts’ win brought up a double at the meeting for Weir who took his season tally of winners to 316 and edged him closer to the Commonwealth record of 334 set by John Hawkes in 2002-2003.
The Weir-trained former Tasmanian-based gelding Royal Rapture notched his first Victorian success in Saturday’s David Bourke Provincial Plate (1600m), getting home by a short head over Leveraction.