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Dwayne Dunn joins an illustrious group of jockeys in the South Australian Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame after becoming the latest inductee at Morphettville on Saturday.
Legendary race caller Bruce McAvaney is on the Hall of Fame selection panel, and says it's a timely honour for the Dwayne Dunn family.
"Dwayne's formidable career covers the length and breadth of Australia," McAvaney said.
"He won feature races in every state, including no less than 75 here in South Australia. His Group One total of 24 includes one for David Hayes in Hong Kong and that remarkable run at Caulfield where he became a legend in winning four consecutive Blue Diamond Stakes.
"Every jockey wants to win a major and Dwayne did that on another David Hayes horse Tawqeet in the Caulfield Cup 16 years ago. He partnered a number of outstanding horses, most notably All Too Hard, the enigmatic Chautauqua, and South Australian favourite and Hall-of-famer Happy Trails.
"That South Australian Hall of Fame connection goes deep, as Dwayne and the Hawkes family combined to win 43 features and he enjoyed 32 with the Hayes family," McAvaney said.
Forty-nine year old Dunn had no idea he was being inducted into the Hall of Fame when he arrived at Morphettville for media duties on Saturday morning.
Family members including wife Amanda and sister Briony helped plan the surprise, and were on hand to celebrate the most prestigious honour in SA racing.
"Dwayne joins an illustrious group of South Australian jockeys, including contemporaries Clare Lindop and Kerrin Mcevoy, and it's timely to honour for the Dunn family, who've been such a big part of the racing landscape in this state," McAvaney said.
Dunn was born on Kangaroo Island before his racing career took off in 1989. He's since ridden 2173 winners. However his racing career's been on hold for the past two years after suffering severe concussion and neck fractures during a barrier accident in 2020.
McAvaney is one of four racing identities on the Hall of Fame selection panel including Terry McAuliffe, Leon Macdonald and Adrian Hancock.
For the first time the ceremony was meant to coincide with the newly established TAB Finals Day, but the race meeting was called off due to consistent lightning and ongoing storm activity.
Popular horses Taj Rossi and Gold Guru together with long serving racing associates Ken and Helen Smith were also inducted into the South Australian Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame.
