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By Ray Hickson

He’s staring down a career best winning haul for the season but jockey Jean Van Overmeire says he hasn’t lost his ambition to be a staple in the metropolitan area.

Jean Van Overmeire is closing on a career best season of wins (Pic: Bradley Photos).

With 101 winners in 2024/25, prior to riding at Scone on Friday, he’s just three shy of his PB from the previous year but it’s surprising to note that his lone city winner for the season so far is Misterkipchoge’s breakthrough two weeks ago.

While that win threw a rather large monkey off his back, and he’ll chase successive wins on the gelding in the Toyota Forklifts Handicap (1800m) at Randwick on Saturday, he feels he’s been pigeonholed and wants to work hard to change that view.

“It’s been driving me mad because as many winners as I’ve had this season I’ve had 42 rides in town,’’ he said.

“It’s disappointing that I’ve only had that many, considering the amount of winners I have.

“But because I’m basing myself at the provincials on a Saturday I’m not getting the rides on a Wednesday either.

“I’ve been classified as a provincial rider, which is fine, but as every other jockey would I’d like to ride in town more.

“My ambition is still to be in the limelight and ride in the A grade of racing. I’m not content just riding at the provincials and country and not even close.”

Of all the horses to snare that elusive city winner some would find it amusing that of all horses it was the enigmatic Misterkipchoge.

The list of jockeys to be beaten on the Chris Waller-trained four-year-old is an impressive one – James McDonald, Craig Williams, Joao Moreira, Jason Collett, Kerrin McEvoy, Jye McNeil, Josh Parr, Ryan Maloney, Nash Rawiller (though he also won on the horse) and Jay Ford.

But Van Overmeire, 30, didn’t have the view of Misterkipchoge as a non-winner that many pundits had formed prior to riding him to victory at Rosehill. In fact it was quite the opposite.

“The start before I rode him, Jay Ford rode him at Rosehill over 2000m and I was on Funambulist for Annabel & Rob,’’ Van Overmeire said.

“I was in the second last pair and Jay was behind me, and he followed me the whole race.

“When we got into the straight I quickened a little but Jay came past at a rate of knots, the horse was powering past me, and I thought gee he’d be hard to beat next time.

“As luck would have it I was on it.”

It was a different side to Misterkipchoge, $6 with TAB on Friday, when Van Overmeire was given the reins as he settled a lot closer to the speed.

That was by design and he hopes in the small field at Randwick he can be in a striking position again.

“Speaking to Chris pre-race he said have him further forward in the field – fourth, fifth, six – I felt like we just needed to be a bit more positive and he’d be right,’’ he said.

“Behind the gates my confidence just grew the longer I was sitting on him and he began so well.

“We were lucky enough to land in the box seat, the tempo was good and he was travelling and I couldn’t have been happier. All he had to do was find, and he did and toughed it to the line.

“He had no weight on his back that day, now he’s carrying 3kg more but I think he could do it again.”

Capable mare Gently Rolled hasn’t been getting the respect she deserves, according to Van Overmeire who wasn’t surprised she produced her best performance for over a year when placed at Rosehill two weeks ago.

Like with Misterkipchoge, he’d like to think the Bryce Heys-trained mare can back that up in the Precise Air Handicap (1400m).

Misterkipchoge wins at Rosehill on June 28

She’ll meet the winner Changing Colours 2.5kg better but the jockey concedes he’s going to need his share of luck this time.

“She’s knocking on the door. Her last run was good and I went into the race definitely thinking that she shouldn’t have been the price she was,’’ he said.

“I thought I could run top three going into the race and we ran third. I just want a sedate tempo so she can travel better throughout the race.

“The barrier is probably against her a little bit but we’ll sum it up when the gates open and see where we are.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday’s Randwick meeting