Vlad Duric may be a Victorian jockey who has tasted life at the top in Singapore, but has declared he will turn in his navy blue license plates for Queensland ones should he win a famous Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap for Tony Gollan aboard Antino at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
The journeyman says he will become a full-blown Queenslander if he can win the great race, after making the move from Singapore earlier this year.
Duric, a champion jockey with more than 700 winners in the Lion City, has made Brisbane his own and is keen to be an elder statesman of the jockeys room, but is hungry for at least one final major Group 1 in Australia.
“I have Victorian plates on my ute, I reckon if I win the Stradbroke I will go and get some Queensland plates on it,” Duric laughed.
“I’ll go straight down to the Brekky Creek hotel as well, in my apartment at the moment there is a maroons scarf that someone left here, so I will be wearing that next week for sure.
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Vlad Duric has enjoyed a strong partnership with Tony Gollan in Queensland. Picture: Grant Peters — Trackside Photography.
“I’m really enjoying it up here, my wife loves it up here and down the track we will look at moving the farm (in Victoria) on and getting something similar up here because I love being on a bit of land.”
Duric found himself on Antino in the Group 2 Victory Stakes at the start of the winter after Mark Zahra got suspended, with the humble jockey saying he would have been happy just to ride the horse once.
After winning that day, Gollan opted to stick fat with Duric, with his Stradbroke weight of 54.5kg putting the jockey right in the mix.
The Caulfield Cup winner has now formed bond with the horse, with Duric saying he is one of the smartest horses he has ever been on top of.
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“It’s circumstantial the way it came about and to be honest, I would have been happy with just one ride on the horse and for him to run a positive race that day,” a modest Duric said.
“I happened to win on him, then the horse is down in the weights for the Stradbroke, so I’m sure there are better riders than me they could have chosen — I’m a realist.
“The way the cards have fallen in my direction has worked out for me and I am focusing on Saturday, trying to execute.”
Having seen most things in racing, Duric is taking it upon himself to mentor the next generation of jockeys through the ranks.
While he is surprised by his own immediate success, Duric is content in life says that is having an influence on his life in Queensland.
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Vlad Duric is nine years between Group 1’s in Australia after a successful career in Singapore. Picture: Mark Dadswell.
“If you took me back three or months before I landed in Queensland and told me I’d win four stakes races while coming in fresh to the place, and then I’d end up on one of the top picks in a Stradbroke Handicap, I would have said no way, you wouldn’t think it’d work out so quickly,” he said.
“You’re nothing without the support and Tony has been amazing for me, I am extremely grateful for the chances he has given me.
“I know how much this race means to Tony so I would love to get it done for him.
“I want to be a role model for the young kids riding up here, a positive influence in the Brisbane riding ranks.
“You want to be a mentor role for people to look up to, I have always liked helping people out, I guess that’s where I am at in my career.”
Duric’s last Australian Group 1 came in 2015, he is an $8 chance with TAB to win the Stradbroke on Saturday.
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