TWELVE months of planning to attract an overseas jockey to Warrnambool for the respected training combination of Bill and Symon Wilde is starting to pay dividends.
The Wildes secured the services of Irish-born Shane Jackson, 24, to ride track work and jumps races for the stable.
Bill Wilde said Jackson had fitted in well to his stables and Warrnambool after he rode Papa's Gothic to second in an 1800-metre high weight at Coleraine on Sunday.
"It's taken us just over a year to get a top horseman from the United Kingdom because of red tape and paperwork to ride work and be our jumps jockey," Wilde said.
"We put up a sponsorship deal, which Shane took up.
"I saw him ride at the Cheltenham Festival when I was overseas in March. He's a very talented horseman .
"Shane has already proven to be a great acquisition to our stable as he's schooled a few of our jumpers. He's ridden more than 80 winners in England and Ireland.
"He is available to ride horses for other trainers in jumps races. We've signed him up under the sponsorship deal for two years."
Wilde said he had no big plans for Ombra Sierra, which won a maiden at Mount Gambier last Thursday.
"It was a nice win," he said. "It was her first run for us. She's a small filly but has a good motor .
" She had been working well at home so we thought she would be competitive at Mount Gambier."
BLINKERS first time and a dry track helped Otylia win his maiden over 1300 metres at Mount Gambier last Thursday, according to his trainer Jarrod McLean.
Otylia had failed at his first two runs on slow tracks at Casterton and Warrnambool before his Mount Gambier victory.
"He just does not seem to handle slow to heavy tracks," McLean said.
"The horse had been working all right. I just knew he would improve once we got him onto a good track and put the blinkers on him .
"Otylia is still very immature. He's bred to get over more ground. We'll just give him a bit of time to develop and mature. I think there might be a couple of wins in him over the next few months."
Meanwhile, McLean said former Alice Springs apprentice jockey Belinda Carlile, 22, had joined his stable.
She has ridden 59 winners and still has a two-kilogram claim.
JUMPS jockey Paul Hamblin got his eye in for a big few weeks in the saddle when he scored on Shirlaski in 2300- metre high weight race at Coleraine on Sunday.
Hamblin leaves Australia this Tuesday to take up the offer to ride in the Czech Grand National Velka Pardubicka Cross Country (6900 metres) in the Czech Republic.
"I rode in the race three years ago," he said. "I got the invite to ride this year because fellow jumps jockey Karel Stryja could not make the trip. Karel's wife Rishty is pregnant .
"It's an amazing carnival over there. I think I've got eight rides over the three weeks of the carnival which culminates in the ride in the Velka Pardubicka. It's just a great experience to ride in another country."
The Velka Pardubicka was first run in 1874. Stryja is hoping to take some of Australia's other jumps jockeys to ride in next year's race.
INJURY-prone mare Carbon Cut finally gave her connections a pay day when she scored an impressive win in a $15,000 maiden over 1000 metres at Coleraine on Sunday.
Warrnambool hobby trainer Michael Townsend purchased Carbon Cut as a three-year-old in a mixed sale in Melbourne.
The six-year-old mare had 12 months in the paddock after injuring her near-side front leg in a paddock accident.
"It's taken us a fair while to get her to the track," Townsend said.
"She crashed into a trough in the paddock and that put her on the sidelines for a long time. She's a lovely horse .
"She's also been shin sore and had a couple of colds. "
Townsend said he was confident Carbon Cut would improve even further once she raced over more ground.
"She's a well-bred mare," he said. "Her half- brother won seven races in a row in distance races."
Carbon Cut ran ninth in a field of 10 at her first run on a heavy track at Warrnambool .
FAVOURITE punters had a bleak afternoon at Coleraine on Sunday. No favourite was successful on the eight- race card.
The longest-priced winner was Carbon Cut. She was a 31/1 chance with the bookies but paid more than $48.50 for a win on the TAB.
