Horse Racing
1 January, 2025
Yendall pays off 'loyalty' with Woodford Cup victory to ring in New Year
'It's great to be back riding - I really missed it.'
HORSE RACING
Woodford
Talented jockey Dean Yendall repaid Warrnambool trainer Matthew Williams' loyalty in winning the $50,000 Woodford Cup on Unseen Ruler at Warrnambool on Tuesday, December 31.
Unseen Ruler came with a well-timed run under the urgings of Yendall to defeat Aspen Colorado by half-a-length, with Thunder Point back in third place in the feature race on the eight-race program.
Yendall only returned to race riding at Nhill on Sunday, December 29 after spending six months on the sidelines following a hip operation.
"I can't thank Matthew enough," the light-weight jockey told Australian Community Media.
"Matthew has been very loyal to me, so it's great to ride the cup winner for him. He could have put other jockeys on Unseen Ruler, but he stayed loyal to me, and I really appreciate that loyalty.
"I think Matthew and I make a good combination.
"Our statistics are pretty good over the years. It's great to be back riding - I really missed it when I was on the sidelines."
Yendall said he was confident 400 metres from the finish that he was the likely winner of the 1700-metre contest.
"I was travelling really well in the run and pulled out before the turn," he said.
"I glimpsed across and thought a couple (horses) on the inside of me might run into a bit of trouble, so I headed for home. Unseen Ruler went to the long really strong.
"I thought he had to be hard to beat after his good win at Caulfield on Boxing Day.
"My biggest worry was if he would back up all right after the short break from Caulfield but there was no concern."
The Horsham-based jockey shared the riding honours with Will Gordon. Both jockeys rode doubles.