The horse that changed Jeff Dunn's life

By Jordan Gerrans

Reflecting on the last few years of his training career, Jeff Dunn is adamant that the purchase of Sha Of Gomer was the turning point.

The Beaudesert-based horseman had enjoyed some success in his relatively short training tenure before Sha Of Gomer was acquired from the Chris Waller camp in April of last year.

The six-year-old gelding has been a revelation since he joined the barn of Dunn and his wife Rikki, who rode the horse before she stepped away from the saddle in recent times following the birth of their third child.

Feature success has followed at Rockhampton and Grafton, as well as finishing second in the time-honoured Eye Liner Stakes at Ipswich last year.

They are back for another tilt at the Eye Liner in 2026 and with it has come an entirely new outlook for the Dunn family and stable.

“He's done a lot for me personally as a trainer and for our family, as well,” Jeff said of his stable flag bearer. 

“Training is a very fickle game - one week you can be hot property and the next week you can be the house on the street that nobody wants to buy.

“What he's done for me is really put my name up in lights. I could go and buy a tried horse and I have no trouble syndicating it now.

“I could go and buy a yearling and again have no trouble syndicating it. 

"Whereas before Sha Of Gomer and the success that he brought with him and to us, I would have had a lot of trouble doing that.

“It might have taken me two or three months to syndicate a horse, whereas now it takes me a day, two or three days.

“The exposure that he's brought to the stable in good races has really put our name up in lights.

“We're not just a little small stable that trains out of Beaudesert. We're very hands-on and we don't have $1 million yearlings coming into our barn every year.

“But, we work hard and we get the best out of the horses that we have.”

Jeff has been training in his own right since 2018 and he is on track to post a career-best campaign in the 2025-26 season.

He prepared 17 winners last term, which he is likely to surpass once the current season comes to a close, while also boasting an improved strike-rate. 

While Sha Of Gomer is their stable star, the Dunn yard is not a one-trick pony.

Across the back end of May and into June, they had a week to remember.

They took four gallopers to Ipswich, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba and Doomben as they walked away with a quartet of victories.

As Jeff notes, the quality in their stable has only increased over the last year thanks to the deeds of Sha Of Gomer.

The son of Shalaa almost pulled off an Ipswich upset in June of last year when he ran a massive race at odds to finish second in the Listed Eye Liner Stakes.

With Rikki in the saddle, Sha Of Gomer was an outsider in the market before putting in one of the best performances of his career to nab second.

While Rikki will not be riding this time around due to motherhood duties, the stable is hopeful of going one better in 2026.

“I think if we could win an Eye Liner, I think that's just a really special race,” Jeff said.

“It’s got a long history and a great tradition.

“I love Ipswich Turf Club and I think what they do there is really setting the standard to the industry.

“I think a lot of other clubs could take a lot from what Ipswich does.”

Sha Of Gomer ran in the Benchmark 85 Handicap on Queensland Oaks day in his last hit-out before his return Ipswich tilt.

On the home front, young Franklin recently joined Jeff and Rikki’s daughters Maci and Piper in their growing family.

While she misses being a jockey, Rikki says she is unlikely to ever ride in a race again following the birth of her third child.

Before stepping away, Rikki was in the early stages of her pregnancy with Franklin when she claimed the feature Rockhampton Newmarket and Listed Ramornie Handicap at Grafton aboard Sha Of Gomer.

They are memories she will treasure forever.

“That makes it really special,” Rikki said.

"When he was born, I brought him down to see Sha Of Gomer and I said, 'This is your little hitchhiker, he was on your back in the Ramornie.'"

“It definitely makes it really special to have those wins under his belt whilst I had my baby in the belly as well, which is nice.”

The Ramornie triumph was Jeff’s maiden win at Listed level while it was Rikki’s second in the grade.

With three children at home, as well as helping out at the stables, Rikki believes that her decision to no longer race ride is helping the family achieve the balance they need.

“We're so busy, we have a lot of client horses and Jeff is obviously gone a lot through the day for the races,” she said.

“If he's not home, I run the ship at home and we've got the three kids with the baby now.

“I just poke around at home, I do a lot of the book work side of things and I don't mind that every now and then.

“But, I get my little bit of fix just riding at the track a little bit now, as well, which is nice.

“But, I think that's the balance.

“It's pretty hard if I was race riding, as well, because then we're both gone and then we've got to find the juggle for the kids.”

Glass Of Rose and Deep Respect are among the other Dunn-trained horses the stable hopes can be competitive in carnival races this year.