Jockey Dwayne Dunn will appeal a 10 meeting suspension

Dwayne Dunn will appeal a 10 meeting suspension handed down for careless riding handed down by the stewards after last weekend.

Dunn says he has lodged his appeal first thing this morning and will fight  the severity of the punishment for what he considers to be a minor incident.

If his appeal is not upheld it will mean he will miss the Makybe Diva Stakes and a surrounding program where he had already secured a number of good chances.

“(I have a) pretty solid book of rides at Flemington, this is the lead up to the spring and obviously you want to stay with these horses all the way through,” he said.

Dunn is most concerned about missing out on a ride and his spot being offered to another rider for the rest of spring, potentially then resulting in him missing a Caulfield Cup or a Melbourne Cup.

He will still be able to ride this Saturday though where his engagements are solid, most notably with the returning Rekindled Interest.

He was first up in the Aurie’s Star after nearly 10 months on the sidelines with a tendon injury.

Connections weren’t expecting too much but a dashing finish saw him cross the line in second place behind Temple Of Boom.

“His first up run down the straight was a bit more like a barrier trial, they wanted him in a straight line and to be hitting the line late,” Dunn said.

“This will be the real test whether he goes on to the Cox Plate.”

The four year old is the winner of last year’s AAMI Vase and trainer Jim Conlan is experimenting with keeping him a touch more on the speed.

“We’ve been able to put him a little bit closer now and his finish is just as strong,” Dunn said.

“We’ll let him begin and be as close as he can without taking the finish off him.

“The main thing is to keep him balanced and keep him out of trouble.

“He’s shown as the talent that he’s got and he’s definitely a Group 1 performer.”

Another of Dunn’s other rides at Caulfield this Saturday is the second up Decircles.

He won his first up run at Seymour by an easy 4.5 lengths but faces stiff opposition in the HDF McNeil Stakes three year old race.

“I think we see the real three year olds out this weekend,” Dunn said.

“He’s always shown me a lot of ability.

“I’ve worked him through the week, he’s improved from that, I expect him to run really well.”

Dunn says he hopes his appeal will be heard by the stewards on Monday next week.