Lighter Ryan on title hunt
PREMIER jockey Ryan Plumb says he is poised to get back to his best after battling weight issues over the past month.
Plumb revealed he struggled to go under 58kg in the weeks after Christmas and it resulted in limited riding opportunities.
He was averaging about three rides a meeting but a change in his training program has Plumb poised to ride six at Aquis Park today.
“I’ve been a bit quiet the last few weeks,” Plumb said.
“I was a bit heavy after Christmas and I couldn’t ride anything below 58kg. But I’ll be able to go to 56kg again while 55.5kg would be my lowest.
“I need to start getting more rides because you miss out on lots of opportunities when you’re heavy.
“I missed out on two winners in the last couple of weeks because they both had 56kg handicaps. I had galloped them both through the week.
“I was doing a lot of resistance training and I think it might have been too much.
“So we changed it back to doing mostly boxing and cardio rather than strength and conditioning.
“The weight has come down very quickly and I’m feeling really good.”
Plumb will ride Class Of Royalty, Boom Boy, San Pierre, Firande, Sir Barnabus and Miocic today.
Plumb’s return towards his optimum weight is timely given he sits second in the 2018-19 Gold Coast jockeys premiership with 17 winners, one behind Luke Dittman.
Today’s meeting gives Plumb the chance to take the lead in the standings given Dittman won’t be riding due to a back injury. Dittman is expected to return to the saddle next weekend.
Plumb said he had no problem attracting offers to ride since ending his successful partnership with 2017-18 trainers premiership winner Les Kelly.
“I’ve been getting lots of offers and three for some races,” Plumb said.