Top Melbourne jockey Dwayne Dunn will appeal against the severity of his eight meeting suspension in a bid to ride the undefeated Deep Field in the Group 1 $500,000 Black Caviar Lightning (1000m) at Flemington on Saturday.
Jockey Dwyane Dunn and Deep Filed returning after winning the tab.com.au Stakes at Flemington. Photo by Sarah Ebbett.
Dunn was suspended for eight meetings for letting his mount Top Me Up shift in at the 800m in the Group 3 $150,000 Sportingbet Blue Diamond Prelude (C&G) (1100m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
The suspension started at midnight on Saturday night and is due to expire at midnight this coming Saturday, February 21, and Dunn is hoping to get at least one meeting shaved off the term to enable him to the ride Deep Field on Saturday.
Dunn has ridden Deep Field to three of his five victories including a last start win in the Group 2 $300,000 tab.com.au Stakes (1200m) at Flemington on November 1 and co-trainer Wayne Hawkes said the stable would keep the ride available for him until after his appeal.
“He (Dunn) is still booked to ride Deep Field,” Hawkes told Correct Weight on RSN.
“He’s going to appeal, so we’ll just roll the dice and see what happens.”
Hawkes is not worried about getting a suitable replacement if Dunn fails in his appeal and said that there has already been a huge influx of riders looking for the ride.
“I reckon there’d be 400 blokes wanted to ride (Deep Field). I had about ten text and ring last night,” Hawkes said.
“It’s certainly put a big spanner in the works. But that’s what happens. Dwayne’s going to appeal and we’ll see how he fares for next Saturday.”
Dunn is the preferred Melbourne rider for the Hawkes Racing Team. Wayne, Michael and John Hawkes, and they combined on the weekend to win the Group 2 $200,000 Schweppes Rubiton Stakes (1100m) with the stable’s other brilliant sprinter Chautauqua.
Chautauqua made it five wins from eleven starts when he came from back in the field to beat the Peter Moody trained Flamberge in a tight finish with Atmospherical battling for third spot.
Deep Field will be stepping up to Group 1 company for the first time in the Black Caviar Lightning and is certain to be facing a slick field of sprinters including the world’s equal number one sprinter Lankan Rupee.
The Mick Price trained Lankan Rupee has been primed for his return to racing with an 800m Cranbourne barrier trial win on February 9 and will be lining up on Saturday for the first time since running third behind Terravista and Chautauqua in the Group 1 $1m Darley Classic (1200m) at Flemington on November 8.
