Inside Racing: First hurdle complete for jumps jockey Braidon Small after brain surgery

Small spoke in glowing terms about his medical team headed by Associate Professor Martin Hunn once he arrived back in Warrnambool on Sunday.

"It's wonderful to be back home," Small said. "I can't fault Mr Hunn and the medical staff at The Alfred. They are all so kind and caring. They all do wonderful jobs.

"I had 20 people in the theatre for the operation. We knew before the operation which is the second I've had on the tumour that they couldn't get it all out. They got out 70 per cent."

Mr Hunn said the other 30 per cent was too close to vital organs in his brain.

"I'm just so thankful to have had such great support from my medical team, family and friends. I'm going to have about three to four weeks rest before I have radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment.

"I've been warned the treatment will be harsh as they try and reduce the tumour. I've got no other option but to have the radiotherapy and chemo treatment. The operation was the first hurdle in the process and now I've got to front up to the other hurdles."

Small, the father of two young children, said he's hoping to be back riding trackwork by Christmas and would love to be riding at next year's Warrnambool May carnival.

"I'm giving it my best shot," he said. "The treatment will be big but I'm confident I'll be right. My goal is to get back riding in jumps races next season but as they say we can only take it one day at a time."

Lauren Jackson, wife of former top local jumps jockey Shane, has set up a GoFundMe campaign for Small and his family who are struggling financially.

"My wife Amy and I are overwhelmed by the help we've received from Lauren and Shane," he said. "We've been gobsmacked by the generosity of people who are in our corner supporting us in this tough time for our family."

Small has ridden 42 winners in his career as a jumps jockey.

Irish-born jumps jockey Will McCarthy predicted a bright future for King's Charisma after the six-year-old won a maiden hurdle at Warrnambool on Sunday.

King's Charisma, trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, beat Thinking Man by more than two lengths to take out the 3200-metre race.

"There's plenty of upside to King's Charisma," McCarthy said. "I think he's got a bright future at the jumping caper. His run on a heavy track at Hamilton last time was full of merit. I've got no doubt Declan Maher who looks after the stable's jumpers at Ballarat will take him along slowly and place him in suitable types of races."

Maher said King's Charisma had showed steady improvement in his three jumps starts.

"We've got a good opinion of the horse going forward," he said. "We're in no hurry with him. We're not going to put him under any pressure. We'll probably look around for a jumps race for his next start but who knows what the future holds for him. There may be a race at next year's Warrnambool May carnival for him."

From his three jumps starts King's Charisma has picked up more than $35,000 in stake-money for his connections while he's also won four flat races.

Impressive Donald maiden winner Sunfish is destined for more wins, according to Liam Hoy, stable foreman for Symon Wilde.

Sunfish was well backed to win Saturday's 1200-metre contest before defeating Medinah and All Black.

"We think Sunfish has a bit of ability," Hoy said. "We were very happy with his debut run at Geelong. He was in the finish and was probably a shade unlucky at Geelong. We'll move him up in distance to 1400 metres next time at Sandown on July 5. It looks an ideal race for him at this time of his career. Sunfish has a wonderful nature and a great temperament. We're confident he'll run through his grades."

Sunfish was a $40,000 purchase at the 2021 Inglis Classic Yearling Sales.

New Zealand-bred galloper Cleaver will line up in the Lafferty Hurdle on July 2, after scoring a tough win in a restricted hurdle at Warrnambool on Sunday.

Trained by former champion jumps jockey Brett Scott, Cleaver with Will Gordon on board, was too good for his rivals in Sunday's 3200-metre race.

"I'm really happy with his win," Scott said. "The obvious step for Cleaver is to go to the Lafferty at Warrnambool. It'll be a jump up in class but he deserves to have a crack at it after that win. Cleaver had to have a long break after doing a tendon. We gave him a good long break after the injury and appears to have worked. I think with the experience of jumping under his belt this year he'll be even better next season."

Cleaver took his stake earnings in jumps race to just under $50,000 with Sunday's victory.

Jockeys Mitch Aitken and Suraj Narredu were suspended on careless riding charges at Donald on Saturday. Aitken was outed for eight meetings. His suspension started at midnight on June 19 and ends midnight June 27 while Narredu is out for 10 meetings. His time on the sidelines kicked off at midnight on June 19 and ends June 29.

Jumps jockey Aaron Kuru showed his love and commitment for the sport over the last few days. Kuru made the trip to New Zealand to ride four winners on Saturday before flying back to ride at Warrnambool on Sunday. The Kiwi born jockey rode one winner for local trainer Symon Wilde on Sunday. Kuru rode trackwork for Wilde on Monday morning and was booked for rides at the Warrnambool jumps trials on Tuesday morning.

Young jumps jockey Campbell Rawiller is $750 lighter in the pocket following his unplaced ride on Frankenstair in a restricted hurdle at Warrnambool on Sunday. Stewards said Rawiller failed to ride out Frankenstar in the 3200 metres and they were not satisfied his actions had cost the horse third place.

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