Most would agree that Brisbane’s leading jockey Jimmy Orman has taken his riding to a whole new level in recent times, mostly turning in faultless performances in the saddle … win or lose … to rise above the pack and hold the prime place in the state’s riding ranks.
And taking it to a new level is really saying something, because the pervious level was quite noteworthy in its own right.
For example, in the 2015/16 season Orman, then still an apprentice, set the record for the fastest one hundred winners in the state in a season. Adding a little bit of extra enjoyment to that moment was the fact that Orman’s record breaking win came aboard Carda Mojo, a horse trained by his mother Caroline Allardyce.
The previous record had been held by Chris Munce who breached the one hundred state winners mark in mid-March. Orman’s significant ‘one hundred-up win’ win came at Ipswich on February 25, 2016.
Now, seven years later, Orman has set a new record in that regard, beating his own previous personal best by bringing up one hundred winners for the season with his win aboard the Chris Waller trained … and appropriately named … Head Of State at Eagle Farm last Saturday, making February 4 the new benchmark.
That win also took Orman to 53 metropolitan winners for season … at an 18.6 percent winning strike-rate.
With that total Orman currently leads the Brisbane Jockey’s Premiership by eight winners (53 to Ben Thompson’s 45 winners) with the defending Brisbane Premiership champion maintaining an impressive level of consistency after taking out last season’s title with 78.5 winners at a strike rate of 18.9 percent.
With a little over five-and-a-half months of the 2022-23 season left to run, chances are, all things being equal, that Orman will set another personal best in terms of his Metropolitan winners total for the season.
Complimenting Orman’s talent is his focussed acceptance of a workload which would tell on a person with lesser determination.
To date this season Orman has taken 285 Metropolitan rides and 168 provincial rides … a total of 453 rides. If taken that has been in a shade over six months, that averages out to 75-odd rides a month.
Little wonder then, with his talent and that input, that Orman not only leads the Brisbane Jockey’s Premiership, but also leads both the Sunshine Coast Premiership (where he is looking for a hat trick of Premierships after being the leading rider there in the last two seasons) and the Ipswich Turf Club Premiership.
It looks like it is onwards and upwards for the outstanding rider from here … but, then again, that has been the case for some time.