Dylan Dunn may be an old hand at riding winners around The Valley, but last Friday’s win aboard Tbilisi holds sentimental value.
At just 23 years of age, this may have been Dunn’s 18th around the course but his first since December 31, 2016 - 685 days to be exact - aboard old Valley favourite It Is Written who won eight races at the course.
Turn back the clock to 2016 and Dunn was at the peak of his powers. The young gun was well on his way to following in his fathers’ footsteps, having been crowned the 2016 Champion Apprentice and winning the Dubai Apprentice Championship.
At the conclusion of that calendar year, Dunn was struck down with glandular fever and continuous health battles that saw his weight spiral to 68 kilograms.
Unfortunately for the sport, racing lost its rising star with Dunn making the decision to hang up the boots.
"First I got pneumonia in my left lung and that was probably in late 2015 and then when the glandular hit as well - it was probably all because of wasting - and I just thought 'What's next'?," a frustrated Dunn said at the time of his retirement.
Fortunately for the racing industry, Dunn’s knowledge wasn’t lost to the industry as he joined the Racing.com broadcast team offering his valuable insights as well as starting up his own mortgage-broking business.
After 18 months on the sidelines and battling depression, the time allowed Dunn’s body to recover and eventually get back to his riding weight to make his comeback possible. Just one week into his return to race riding, Dunn was back in the winner’s circle and prior to last Friday night had notched 10 winners to his belt.
“I’m absolutely on cloud nine it’s fantastic to get my first winner back in town and I’ve had so much support with over 80 rides and even in a Group 1 so I’m so appreciative for that”
“The biggest key in this game is being mentally right… if I can keep myself happy, fit and well I’ll be able to stay in this game for a long time,” Dunn said post-race.
And if statistics are anything to go by, he won’t be waiting long for his second winner around The Valley. Dunn rides the circuit at a 15% winning strike-rate with 29% having filled the placings – he has ridden ten more winners around the circuit than any other he has ridden at around Australia.
Dylan Dunn won the Callaway Golf / Drummond Ride of the Night for his winning ride aboard Tbilisi.