I had the pleasure of speaking to champion Australian jockey Damien Oliver when he was out of action in 2005 due to a fall. In that fall he broke his spine but fortunately he did not have any spinal cord damage. He is well aware that he is a very lucky man and that it could have been far worse having to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Damien has kindly agreed to become a patron of SCA and we are very grateful of his support and the focus that his profile will bring to our organisation.

Damien is Australia’s highest profile jockey both on and off the track and he has a fantastic record. He has won 70 Group 1 races including dual Melbourne Cup wins on Doriemus and Dermot Weld’s Media Puzzle, the latter the most emotional Melbourne Cup win in history. He has also won four Caulfield Cups, a record only bettered by the internationally acclaimed Scobie Breasley (5) and he has won the Cox Plate twice.

Damien is also a six-time premiership winner in Melbourne and he has won the coveted Scobie Breasley Medal on six occasions for excellence in riding. He has also won in Hong Kong, in particular the International Sprint twice on the sprinter Falvelon, and he won the prestigious Hong Kong International Jockey Challenge. He has also won in Japan where he was runner-up in the Japan World Super Jockey Series, as well as England, Ireland, Mauritius, New Zealand and has been to Dubai.

He is on target to break the all time record of Stakes’ race wins in Australia, where his tally of winners is more than 1700 and he has more than 400 black type race wins, with only George Moore to chase down to become the all time winner in Australian history.

Damien is hoping to return to riding in 2006 after having some rods removed from his spine and we at SCA wish him continue success. A champion jockey, who is also a champion bloke.

by Gary Allsop - Honorary Director