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Kranji-based Australian jockey John Powell was not on hand at The Ravenala Attitude Hotel in Mauritius on Wednesday night for the ride allocation draw ceremony to this weekend’s Attitude Hotels International Jockeys’ Weekend, but would not be too unpleased with the way his luck went down.

Based on the local railside talk, Powell's best rides are Carlton Heights (Race 3) and Well Connected (Race 8) – for his good mate, Australian trainer Simon Jones - on Saturday and Paddingtons Luck (Race 5) and Overshadow (Race 7) on Sunday.

Powell will probably still need to get the low-down on his mounts and watch some past runs after he lands on the Indian Ocean island on Thursday, but one thing he won't need any tips on is the lie of the land.

The former Sydney and Brisbane jockey rode in Mauritius on several occasions in the early 90s and the 2000s.

The 49-year-old was the last jockey to get the nod after coming in to fill the void left by the suspended Glen Boss. Unlike Boss, he will, however, represent Singapore while Sydney-based jockey Jason Collett, brother to Kranji's Alysha Collett, will carry the New Zealand flag.

Going with the local pundits' grapevine, Collett has also drawn evenly with no real standouts among his dozen of rides while recently-crowned Mauritius champion jockey, and former three-time Singapore champion jockey, Brazil's Manoel Nunes, is among one of the early favourites to take the weekend's honours.

"I was lucky I drew my own stable's horse All Aboard – it's always an advantage when you draw a horse you know well. I also got a nice spread of rides over the two days," said Nunes whose stable, the Shyam Hurchund Stable, was the winningest yard for the 2019 season.

"I didn't have much luck at last year's IJW, but I'm hoping to ride at least one winner this time." 

Other old Kranji acquaintances in the mix are Nooresh Juglall (Mauritius) and Derreck David (South Africa), both riding on a retainer in Mauritius after they left Kranji in 2019 and 2017 respectively.

The pair have on paper not been too lucky at the draw, but it is well known that jockeys' series have often hatched surprises. Many a times, a jockey deemed "unlucky" with his rides end up shining where least expected.

Just think our own Premier Gateway International Jockeys Challenge at Kranji last year – South Africa's Aldo Domeyer came from left field to upstage his better-known and better-fancied rivals.

Another good example is former Kranji jockey Elione Chaves (Brazil), who won three races on three outsiders at the Mauritius IJW in 2017, just missing the ultimate prize from Robbie Fradd (Rocket Man's former jockey).

"My rides are not very good on both Saturday and Sunday this time," rued Juglall, who enjoyed a prolific IJW last year with three winners and finished third overall to Maxime Guyon.

"The only decent chance is Alssakhra - and maybe Duke's Domain on Sunday. It's not looking good, but I'll still go out there and try my best.

Points will be allocated as follows: Win (nine points), second place (four points), third place (two points) and fourth place (one point). The winner will be the jockey who racks up the highest score based on the eight best finishes.

The IJW is the traditional last meeting to bring curtains down on the Mauritius racing season, but exceptionally, it won't be this year as one bonus meeting was added on December 7 to replace a meeting cancelled because of the general election earlier in the month.

Rides for John Powell at the IJW 2019