Duric to make Brisbane home

By Jordan Gerrans

Champion hoop Vlad Duric admits he even surprised himself with how prolific he was in his first stint in South East Queensland and he has now turned his attention to doing it once again during the summer carnival.

After a sparkling career in Victoria and Singapore, the 47-year-old decided to call Brisbane home in the early stages of 2024.

While he has a Caulfield Cup and several Group 1 titles on his resume, it can often be a challenge for a rider to hit the ground running in a new location against the established jockey’s room.

The talented Duric dispelled that thought pretty quickly during the winter of this year, quickly nabbing the Group 2 Victory Stakes and Group 3 Winx Guineas as well as several other feature events.

As he aims to build momentum in his second stint in Brisbane, the high-level jockey has his eyes on the summer’s greatest prize – the $3 million Magic Millions Classic.

“Obviously with the carnival coming up, I am hoping to pick up some nice rides and see if we can make an impact,” the hoop says.

“I am looking forward to dipping my toe into it and hopefully I can get a winner.

“I would love to pick a ride in the two-year-old race, that would be awesome to be a part of the event.

“I have been chatting to my manager and hopefully I can pick up something.”

Duric is only two meetings into his return to the Sunshine State, collecting a winner for Tony Gollan on Saturday in town aboard Millane.

The Gollan and Duric team were a formidable one in the winter – combining with Antino to score in the Victory Stakes – and Brisbane’s leading conditioner was smiling to have one of his jockeys of choice back on deck.

“It is good to have Vlad back,” Gollan said.

“His weight is coming down and he gave Millane a peach on Saturday.”

In a bid to get his eye in ahead of the Magic Millions carnival, Duric is heading down the highway on Friday evening to ride in the first Aquis Park meeting under lights.

He will partner Colleagues for Caloundra’s David Vandyke in the Benchmark 78 Handicap over 1400 metres.

“It will be good to have a look at the track as I have not ridden on it before,” Duric said.

Duric’s biggest riding scalp in Australia is the Group 1 Caulfield Cup of 2007 aboard Master O'Reilly.

He was also prolific in his lengthy stint in Singapore.

He claimed the majority of their major Group 1 races, won several riding premierships and ticked past 700 victories in total in the jurisdiction.

Dubbed the ‘Lion City’, Duric likened Singapore to Brisbane.

That is what prompted the move when he decided he was set to return to Australia.

Duric’s daughter Sage started her own riding career in Victoria earlier this year, which also played a key role in his decision to relocate home.

“The Singapore climate is very similar to the Brisbane climate, so the warm weather helps,” Duric said.

“Also, the fact that we only ride two or three days a week in Brisbane – that suits me. Sydney and Melbourne are quite gruelling riding sometimes seven days a week.

“With my body the way it is as I get a bit older, that workload was probably not going to suit me.

“I sort of always had Brisbane in the back of my mind for quite a few years, post Singapore, and I am quite enjoying it so far.”

The Singapore Turf Club closed earlier this year, ending decades of racing history in the city.

Despite the closure, the Kranji track will always hold positive memories for one of the most successful jockeys to ply their trade their over the last decade.  

“Singapore was life changing for me and my family as my girls did a lot of their schooling there,” Duric said.

“My wife and I loved living in the city, we were there for over a decade.

“I went there with the thoughts of hoping to pay my farm off in Victoria, I thought we would stay for two or three years and knock the mortgage off – that was the goal.

“It ended up being over 10 years in the end and it was amazing being able to win championships and most of their feature races.

“It was amazing period of my riding career and something I really do cherish.”

Duric rode in Queensland up until the end of July before heading to Victoria to be around his daughter as she debuted on race day.

She has quickly racked up a couple of winners.

With Sage established in Melbourne, Duric headed back north and had his first rides back earlier this month.

Remarking that he will make Brisbane ‘home’ from here on, Duric heads to Eagle Farm on Saturday with two bookings.

Robert Heathcote’s Runwiththetide will jump from a wide gate in the Benchmark 70 Handicap over 1500 metres while he has been booked to partner Secret Sort for Donna Stanbridge in the babies race.

As he is on the hunt for a Magic Millions Classic ride, Stanbridge's gelding might just be his ticket.

“I sort of came here without too many expectations, I came here relaxed,” Duric said.

“But, what happened during the carnival – that exceeded my expectations as I did not anticipate I would win a few stakes races straight away and get going as I did.

“I think a big part of that was a decent leg-up from the leading trainer here in Tony Gollan, that really helped me and propelled me forward a lot quicker than I anticipated.

“I came back in reasonable nick, as well, I was able to ride a little bit lighter which really helped me.”

Duric rode Prince Of Boom for Heathcote last Saturday and he is hopeful of sticking with the galloper through to Magic Millions day, as well.