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With leading trainer Scott Brunton having a seemingly unassailable lead in the quest for his 12th trainer’s premiership, the battle for the state’s leading rider in 2020/21 is sure to garner attention during the final quarter of the season.
The race for the jockey's premiership appears to be down to two, with David Pires on 63 wins currently holding a six-win lead from Brendon Mccoull on 57, with Ismail Toker a further 13 wins behind on 44.
In Devonport on Sunday, Brendon McCoull has an outstanding opportunity to bridge the current gap with a book of six rides while David Pires won't be riding at the meeting.
McCoull's six rides will all be aboard locally trained horses starting in the opening race where he will ride the Leanne Gaffney-trained debutante Dramazing.
The three-year-old filly was a $22,000 purchase at the 2019 Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale by Star Thoroughbreds and tuned up for her first time facing the starter by placing second in a Longford trial on 27 April.
Punters will be looking towards the market for a leading guide in the Ladbrokes Maiden (1009m) as five of the 11 acceptors don't have any race experience.
McCoull will also ride for Gaffney in the Carlton And United Breweries Class 1 Hcp (1350m) where Endured looks a strong winning chance first-up, but two of his rides for Adam Trinder through Sunday's quadrella legs attract notice based on that duo's success this season.
Boasting a 24.1% overall winning strike rate from his 237 rides this season, McCoull has ridden 18 winners for Adam Trinder in 2020/21, by far his most for any individual trainer, at a highly impressive strike rate of 30.5%.
Adam Trinder will saddle up three runners in the Happy Mother's Day Benchmark 66 Hcp (1350m) with McCoull taking the ride on Sanction King who hasn't missed a placing in his last four starts including a narrow defeat in the opening race in Devonport a fortnight ago.
McCoull's other ride for Adam Trinder is in the Tasmanian Horse Transport Class 1 Hcp (1150m) where three-year-old gelding Michbar resumes having not raced since September last year.
With 12 meetings left in the season, the jockey's premiership battle appears set to go down to the wire. A win for McCoull would be his 15th overall with David Pires a three-time winner of the title.
