SINGAPORE,  31 Mar 2009

Caulfield Cup winning jockey Vladimir Duric is among three who will join the riding ranks in Singapore next month.

Duric has been granted a four-month licence while former Brisbane champion apprentice jockey Ric McMahon has been granted a six-month licence from April 1. They will be joined by Ronnie Stewart who returns to Singapore for a nine-month stint this time.

Duric, 31, is currently licensed by Racing Victoria. In a career spanning 15 years, Duric has won about 1,250 races, two Victorian country apprentices’ premierships and two Victorian country jockeys’ premierships.

Based mostly in the country initially, the Australian got his break in the city (Melbourne) in 2007 when he scored his first Group 1 win with BON HOFFA (Belong To Me - Asian Reef by Manila) in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield, which was to be followed by the biggest win of his career, the Group 1 Caulfield Cup on MASTER O’REILLY (O’Reilly - Without Remorse by Bakharoff).

Duric had previous overseas riding stints in Mauritius and Macau. He weighs in at 53kg.

McMahon, 20, who is currently licensed by Queensland Racing, bagged two Brisbane champion apprentice titles (2005/2006 and 2006/2007) and was placed fourth on the senior riders’ premiership in 2006/2007.

McMahon has ridden for leading trainers Liam Birchley, Alan Bailey and Bryan Guy, among others, and was stable jockey at John Hawkes’ Brisbane stable when Hawkes was training for the Ingham family.

In five years, McMahon yielded about 250 wins. Among his most notable successes are the Group 3 BTC Sprint with HELIDECK (Iglesia - Whirly Bird by Sikorsky) and the Group 3 Chairman’s Handicap with FULMONTI (Montjeu - Grosvenor’s Pride by Grosvenor), two wins he scored in the space of a week last year. He goes to scale at 51kg.

Stewart, 25, a former Sydney champion apprentice jockey, first rode in Singapore in January 2006, finishing fourth in the table that year with 43 wins. He was placed fifth in the table in 2007 with 36 wins.

Stewart rode 30 winners last year including a career highlight in Singapore when he landed the Singapore Gold Cup victory with EL DORADO (Stay Gold - White Leap by White Muzzle). He also bagged the 3rd Leg of the 2006 Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge with KELANTAN (Cape Cross - Stever House by El Gran Senor) and the 2007 Singapore Derby Trial with CHEVRON (Medicean - Lishaway by Polish Precedent).