FINAL CRACK
COAST JOCKEY’S ONE BIG SHOT
CHAMPION jockey Jeff Lloyd gets his final chance to ride another Group 1 winner in Brisbane on Invincible Gem in the Tatt’s Tiara.
Lloyd has indicated this year will be his last and the Tatt’s Tiara (1350m) at Doomben tomorrow is the final Group 1 race for the Australian season.
The 57-year-old Gold Coast jockey has had rides in five of the seven Group 1 races in Brisbane this winter but is yet to record a placing.
An internationally recognised jockey, Lloyd’s last Group 1 winner in Australia was Pear Tart in the 2012 Tatt’s Tiara at Eagle Farm.
Lloyd has been riding the Kris Lees-trained Invincible Gem in trackwork and said the mare had been working strongly.
“She seems to be well and Kris is pleased with her. Her run in the Stradbroke was solid,” he said.
Invincible Gem is following what has become a traditional path for Tiara winners by coming through
the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap at her last start, in which she ran ninth.
She is an $13 chance with Ladbrokes in the Tiara with three-year-old Stradbroke placegetter Champagne Cuddles continuing to hold sway at $5.50.
Lloyd begins an eight-day suspension tomorrow night and will ride in his native South Africa late next month when he hopes to capture his first Durban July at Greyville.
“It’s a race I have been trying to win for more than 40 years,” he said.
The suspension and trip will have no impact on Lloyd winning the Queensland metropolitan and state premierships because he has a stranglehold on both.
Lloyd says he will not make a decision on his retirement date until he returns from South Africa.
“When I know myself, I will let you know,” he said.
Lloyd shows no signs of slowing down and made the four-hour round trip from his Gold Coast base to Caloundra on Tuesday to ride in the barrier trials for trainer David Vandyke.
Lloyd rode two winners on promising two-year-olds Miss Frangipani and Asharani.