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By Ray Hickson

Five years is a long time to wait for a chance to give your family a better life so it’s no surprise jockey Donovan Dillon is ready to make things happen quickly in the new season.

As far back as 2019, Dillon began what he thought would be a simple process to move from South Africa with his wife Tayla and their young son to Australia but the Covid pandemic cost them over two years. They wouldn’t arrive until June 2022.

Jockey Donovan Dillon is closing on his 500th career win (Pic: Bradley Photos).

Once the borders reopened, they made it to their new home in Scone and Dillon began working and riding for Paul Messara and Leah Gavranich – under his visa terms he couldn’t ride for another stable until he gained permanent residency.

That came in November last year and after staying in the Messara camp for a couple more months the 31-year-old decided the time was right to branch out and get his career moving.

There’s so much to this story but because Dillon is ambitious he wants it known he’s worked hard to get where he is and is prepared to work even harder to chase some lofty goals.

“My main goal is to get known and get seen all over New South Wales racing and get our foot in as many doors as we can,’’ Dillon said.

“One of my first goals is to strive for a premiership and I was looking as early as next season to aim for (the NSW title).

“It couldn’t have taken off any better than it has since January, we’ve met a heap of new people and created some good relationships around NSW.

“It’s happened quicker than what we could have anticipated but we’ve worked hard toward it.”

Let’s take a step back.

A South African jockey, or trainer for that matter, making the move to Australia for better opportunities from a racing and lifestyle perspective is not something new.

Champion trainer David Payne called Sydney home in 2002, top jockeys Glyn Schofield and Jeff Lloyd brought their families, which include jockey sons Chad Schofield and Zac and Jaden Lloyd, to Sydney in 2008, Keagan Latham arrived in 2016 to name a few.

For Dillon, who has ridden in 57 Group 1 races and scored his first major in 2020 on Golden Ducat in the Champions Cup at Greyville, he says starting over in Australia is almost like going through a second apprenticeship.

It was necessary, he doesn’t regret it and would do it all again.

It meant that in his first full season in Australia in 2022/23 he had just 27 rides, for nine winners, all for the Messara camp. An untimely injury, where he tore muscle off a bone when kicked in the thigh by a horse, saw him only have three rides the following season.

The highlight of the current season, set to end this month, has been his win on the Messara & Gavranich-trained Intervarsity in the $150,000 Evergreen Turf Hunter & North West Country Championships at Tamworth.

He’s set a target to top 40 winners by the end of 2024/25 – if he can make it to 41 it’ll be his 500th career winner – to head into a new year with a full head of steam.

And it’s all for that little boy called Bryce, now six years old.

“He’s got more of a future here in Australia than he would have had in South Africa,’’ Dillon said.

“If we couldn’t have kids I don’t know if we would have necessarily upped and moved but with safety concerns and future wise it’s the best for my family.

“It was quite a culture shock when we first got here because of how safe it actually was. It took us a long time for us to let our little boy out of our sight just being used to South Africa and how tricky it is.

“It’s worth it because I’ve been family driven. We came here with the intent to do it for our son and give him a better future, and it’s given us that motivation to push harder.

“I’ve got nothing but good things to say, it’s bigger than I could have ever imagined the racing over here.

“If I stick to my guns and go as good as I want to I can give my family a good life, one that I could never have given them in South Africa.”

Donovan Dillon rides Intervarsity to victory in the Hunter & North West Country Championships. (Pic: Bradley Photos).

The link with the Messara camp may seem random but it isn’t so much. Arrowfield Stud races some horses in South Africa and Dillon rode a horse called Traces for them several times including a win in December of 2020.

Dillon said he couldn’t have asked for a better start to life in Australia and believes he’s centrally located in Scone, with his wife working for nearby Ridgmont Stud, to be able to reach far and wide in NSW as he chases that premiership.

“It hasn’t been easy starting off making new relationships and trying to get people on our side,’’ he said.

“It’s never easy getting going again but it’s nothing you can’t work your way around with a bit of hard work.

“Out of loyalty and thankfulness I stayed with the Arrowfield team for a little while until we found our feet in the racing aspect of things.”

He said he’s seen some very good examples to follow in the time he’s been here – 2022/23 national title winner Aaron Bullock and last year’s NSW premiership winner, and now Group 1 winning jockey, Ashley Morgan are just a couple of heights to aspire to.

“If you’re hard working and dedicated enough I don’t think you can really go wrong in this industry,’’ he said.

“Aaron and Ash, they’re proper workhorses and I intend on doing the same thing. I’ve had a lot of insight from Keagan Latham, he’s been a great mate of mine for many years.

“Brett Cavanough has been a great man on my side, Paul and Leah have been really great. If people ask about me they’ve had nothing but good words to say.

“It’s been a lot of word of mouth and I can’t thank the trainers and owners enough for spreading that because that’s what enables you to get the support and keep growing.

“We are self-employed, so we are our own bosses and it’s up to us how hard we work.”

*This article originally appeared in the July 2025 edition of the Racing NSW magazine

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