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By Ray Hickson

One thing jockey Dylan Gibbons says he can always be confident about when he rides classy mare Semana it’s that she’s going to leave it all on the track.

Dylan Gibbons (Pic: Bradley Photos)

So he’s looking to the five-year-old to show she’s ready for an overdue Group 1 win this spring, and give him a small personal kick along, in Saturday’s Group 2 $400,000 Racing And Sports Golden Pendant (1400m) at Rosehill.

It’s not lost on the two-time Group 1 winning jockey that this season he’s had 105 rides for the one winner.

In the past four seasons his strike rate has been over 30 per cent, but he says it's part of making the transition from apprentice to senior rider and he’s working hard to improve on those stats.

“It’s one of the toughest areas in the world to ride and now I’ve got no claim there’s no incentive to put me on over James (McDonald), Tommy (Berry), Kerrin (McEvoy) and some of the other boys,’’ Gibbons said.

“We keep battling away, we’re getting the rides and the support and it’s a matter of turning those placings and fourths and fifths into winners.

“Semana went super first-up, that’s just been her pattern. She always gives 110 per cent, every time you go out you know she’s going to give you everything.”

Three Group 1 placings from Semana’s last five starts tell Gibbons the mare isn’t far off a win at the top level and as he mentioned he was rapt with her effort to run fourth in the Group 1 Winx Stakes (1400m) a month ago.

She chased home Via Sistina, Zougotcha and Fangirl in that race and he said the month between runs is ideal as she’s a proven fresh performer.

“That’s when she seems to go best and it does look a nice race for her back to fillies and mares grade, 1400m and some rain around so there’s a lot of things in her favour,’’ he said.

“For a fleeting moment I thought she was going to let down and go and win the (Winx) but she was beaten by some of the best horses we’ve got.”

The Ciaron Maher-trained Semana, $2.70 with TAB on Thursday, has won four races on soft and heavy ground so Gibbons says the conditions are right in her corner.

He’s pleased there’s a designated leader in Tropical Squall to set the tempo and feels he has plenty of options as to how to go about winning the race.

“She can go a little bit keen but it’s not a very big field so whether she’s forward or back she’s not going to be too far off them,’’ he said.

“She’s got a good turn of foot and with the rain around it should make the track play quite even.

“This would be a nice little kick on for her then hopefully she can get a well deserved Group 1.

“You can see how close she’s been and you’d struggle to find a horse that deserves one more than her.”

It wouldn’t surprise Gibbons if Kind Words is competitive first-up in the Irresistible Pools & Spas Handicap (1400m) with the soft conditions in her favour.

The mare hasn’t raced since the Queensland Oaks, where she ran fourth and Gibbons said her most recent trial was promising given the track on the day.

Semana runs fourth in the Winx Stakes

“She’ll appreciate the wet track, I didn’t mind her trial the other day but that inside grass was firm and I didn’t think she loved it,’’ he said.

“She might need the run but I’d expect her to run a bit better than her odds suggest.”

Dylan Gibbons on Everido (race 2): “The plan was to be forward (last time) but we got a squeeze out of the gates and it put us a couple of pairs further back, the winner came off my back and blew us away. He had to use all his dash to get to them so hopefully he can step a bit better and be handier and not have to do as much chasing.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday’s Rosehill meeting