Star Queensland riders Jim Byrne and Stathi Katsidis have skipped away from their rivals and lead to race to be crowned the inaugural Magic Millions Leading Rider of the season.
Byrne has won 48 races this season aboard Magic Millions graduates – one more than Katsidis who notched his career highlight win with Military Rose in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic last month.
The latest standings, prior to the race meetings on Friday, show Queensland and Western Australian riders dominating.
Leading Perth rider Shaun O’Donnell (37) and Brisbane’s Larry Cassidy (27) are third and fourth on the latest list – while Michael Hellyer and Alan Kennedy are the leading apprentices on 25 wins.
South Aussies Clare Lindop (17) and Libby Hopwood (15) are leading the way to the Leading Female Rider for the season.
Queensland apprentice Alisha Taylor (11) is next on the list.
Stathi Katsidis (30) leads Shaun Meeres (22), Grant Buckley (20) and Jim Byrne (20) in the Leading Non-Metro Rider Premiership.
Also high in contention for that award are Daniel Griffin (19), Brendon McCoull (19), Adam Best (18) and Shaun O’Donnell (17).
LEADING RIDER
(ranked by wins on MM graduates)
48 – Jim Byrne
47 – Stathi Katsidis
37 – Shaun O’Donnell
27 – Larry Cassidy
25 – Michael Hellyer
25 – Alan Kennedy
24 – Jason Whiting
23 – Paul Harvey
22 – Shaun Meeres
21 – Corey Brown
21 – Grant Buckley
21 – Chad Lever
20 – Daniel Griffin
19 – Jason Brown
19 – Takahide Ikenushi
19 – Brendon McCoull
18 – Adam Best
LEADING NON-METRO RIDER
(ranked by wins on MM graduates)
30 – Stathi Katsidis
22 – Shaun Meeres
20 – Grant Buckley
20 – Jim Byrne
19 – Daniel Griffin
19 – Brendon McCoull
18 – Adam Best
17 – Shaun O’Donnell
16 – Takahide Ikenushi
16 – Terry Treichel
15 – Michael Hellyer
14 – Luke Dillon
13 – Robert Thompson
13 – Phillip Wolfgram
13 – Mitchell Wood
13 – Dean Yendall
LEADING FEMALE RIDER
(ranked by wins on MM graduates)
17 – Clare Lindop
15 – Libby Hopwood
11 – Alisha Taylor
10 – Leeanne McCoy
9 – Jade Darose
9 – Talia Maor
9 – Amy Taylor
8 – Kristy Banks
8 – Skye Bogenhuber
8 – Linda Meech
8 – Kathy O’Hara
8 – Mandy Radecker
* latest standings as at 9am Friday
