Japan stint has jet-setting Dee primed to sprinkle some spring magic
Dee started with a feature Flemington double last Saturday, only his second meeting back after two months riding in Japan.
Dee spent a month in Europe and UK to recharge before the Australian season.
He moved to 15 career Group 1 wins last season, with a second Blue Diamond Stakes success and a special homecoming New Zealand Derby triumph.
The Kiwi expat could build on the tally early in the spring with Magic Time aimed at the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) next month.
Dee piloted Magic Time to victory in the 2023 Sir Rupert Clarke and 2024 All Aged Stakes.
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The 29-year-old rode 32 winners in Melbourne last season at a healthy 13 per cent strike rate.
Dee has the lure of a three-month contract to ride in Japan next year but success on the home front matters most right now.
'It's not set in stone (next year), depends how everything goes,' Dee said.
'If I'm having an absolute pearler of a season here, this season, it would probably be very beneficial for me to go back there.
'They travel their horses everywhere and their horses always can compete at the highest level when they go anywhere … they go to Dubai, Saudi, Kentucky, everywhere.
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'If I was lucky enough to go back and pick something up … you never know.'
Bold Soul was the first of a winning double for Michael Dee at Flemington on Saturday Picture: Brett Holburt/Racing Photos via Getty Images
Dee, or any other Australian jockey, need not look far for inspiration with globetrotter Damian Lane the toast of Japanese racing and fans alike.
Lane has ridden 177 winners the past six years in Japan including six Grade 1 triumphs.
The success and connections has led to Lane riding Japanese horses to victory abroad in Australia, Hong Kong and the Middle East.
'He's (Lane) basically got the pick of the rides really (in Japan),' Dee said.
'He's almost the Zac Purton of Hong Kong in Japan, he's been there a fair few times now and built his connections.
'Whereas myself, it's tough in two months to properly build connections ... it should be better next time I go.'
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Dee, who rode five winners in Japan from 130 starters and placed on 20 occasions, appreciated the life and career experience.
'It's hard to explain how different it is (Japanese racing) unless you've actually been there,' Dee said.
'Everything you could think of is just different. How they train, the surfaces they run on, track work, race day, everything is different.
'I had to adapt coming from here to there, tweak how they run races and their horses and style of running, it's not very similar to here (as) races are run different (faster tempo).
Michael Dee after winning the 2022 Victoria Derby aboard Manzoice Picture:'I've certainly learned a lot, whether I can bring a lot of that here, I'm sure, we'll soon find out.'
Dee experienced the racing fandom in Japan firsthand with picture requests at airports and like.
'They treat their jockeys like we would (AFL) footballers or something like that, probably even more so,' Dee said.
Dee has two rides at Sandown on Wednesday with Mr Independent in race two while Laa De Sha contests race eight.
Gilbert Gardiner
Sports reporter
Gilbert Gardiner is a sports reporter for the Herald Sun and Sunday Herald Sun.
@gilbertgardiner
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