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By Ray Hickson

We’re all guilty of overthinking things at times and jockey Jean Van Overmeire hopes the silver lining of Territory Express drawing the outside in Saturday’s Group 3 $1m Illawarra Mercury Gong (1600m) is it’ll reduce the horse’s time to ponder what’s about to happen.

Jean Van Overmeire (Pic: Bradley Photos).

The talented gelding has been his own worst enemy.

After he threw away his chances by missing the start badly in the Kembla Grange feature a year ago, which saw a stewards embargo placed on him, trainer Paul Niceforo went right back to basics and sent him interstate for some re-education.

His form this spring shows the process is having the desired effect, albeit slowly.

Van Overmeire has endured the ups and downs over the past six to eight months, including failures in his first two runs in the spring but a last start third in the Ladies Day Cup at Hawkesbury has everyone concerned hopeful he’s turned the corner.

“I just feel bad for Paul and Maryanne and the ownership group who have been so patient,’’ he said.

“You’re going to the races holding rosary beads. You need luck but you don’t know whether he’s going to jump at all. You’re just hopeful.

“He’s a horse with a lot of ability but he gets in his own head.

“I reckon (the barrier) is of benefit to him. If he’s in there for too long he thinks about it too much, that’s all you could put it down to.”

Territory Express started $7 in The Gong a year ago, where he ran 11th behind Gringotts after missing the start by six lengths, following a narrow defeat in the Five Diamonds Prelude and a close up fifth in the Five Diamonds.

Despite his promising last effort he was a $34 chance with TAB on Thursday.

The six-year-old’s last win came in the Provincial-Midway Championships Final of 2024 and he ran well through the bulk of that year until he hit Kembla Grange.

When he ran third at his first run for two months Territory Express had an inside gate and he broke from the stalls evenly enough and Van Overmeire was able to let him improve along the inside.

He said he doesn’t have a set plan for how to attack the race from the outside barrier.

“That’s the least of my concerns, where I’m going to put him in the race,’’ he said.

“I’m not worried about that. The first priority is to leave the gates and then you go step by step.

“If he doesn’t leave the gates then all the stressing and worrying about where you’re going to put him in the run is a waste of time.

“He just needs to keep on the right track. I’m quietly confident that he’ll be right.”

Take away his reputation for making life hard for himself, Van Overmeire said you couldn’t ask for a more promising run leading into a big race than what Territory Express produced at Hawkesbury.

Territory Express runs third at Hawkesbury on November 8

“I was extremely pleased, he ran through the line well. He jumped well enough and hit the line so that’s good,’’ he said.

“You can call it first-up the other day, his first two were non events. If we’re talking about a horse coming back from an actual spell and they perform like that it gets everyone out of their seats to have a look.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday’s meeting at Kembla Grange