Champion Jockey and three-time Melbourne Cup winner Damien Oliver took to another green in Yarrawonga last week as he visited Black Bull Golf Course and Sebel Resort for a hit of golf.
However, his horse racing background was not far away with one of his Melbourne Cups also making the trip up the Hume.
“It’s my first time in Yarrawonga but I’ve loved it,” Damien said.
“We have a social golf group we play in and have spent three days up here; it’s been lovely.
“The climate and countryside remind me a bit of Perth, it’s quite nice to be able to visit.”
Damien plays off a handicap of six which those who play or watch golf know, the lower your handicap is, the better you are.
“I probably started playing golf in my late teens early 20s so I wasn’t that good at the start but over a long period of time I’ve got better at it,” Damien said.
“It’s also nice to be able to take a step back from horse racing and training for a little while and take part in another sport.”
Whilst in town, Damien was to visit Sacred Heart Primary School and display one of his three Melbourne Cups to the students last Thursday but with a COVID-19 scare the visit had to be cancelled.
“It’s a shame we couldn’t do the school thing, it’s always great being able to see the kids and answer their questions,” Damien said.
Damien has had a coveted career in horse racing taking out Australia’s biggest race, the race the stops the nation, the Melbourne Cup three times in three different decades in 1995, 2002 and 2013. He rode Irish horse Delphi to seventh in this year’s Melbourne Cup and also rode Willowy to a win in the Kennedy Oaks on Oaks Day.
Across the Melbourne Cup Carnival, Damien rode five winners across three days and the Oaks was his third-successive win in the 2500-metre classic for the fillies and his seventh in the race overall.
Last week also brought up a new record with Damien equaling George Moore’s Australian record of 126 Group 1 wins when he won the Kennedy Oaks.
“I don’t know if I’ve got another one (Melbourne Cup) in me in this decade, but I hope to ride in another one,” Damien said.
“I rode in it this year and think I have the record for riding in the most amount of Melbourne Cups about 29 or 30.
“I start racing again this week but I am still enjoying it which is great.”