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Craig Kerry
July 16, 2026 — 5:00pm
Nacim Dilmi thought the target of 20 winners in his first season as a head trainer for Domeland might be a bridge too far.
Godolphin’s former Melbourne foreman took over from Sara Ryan at the Central Coast operation of Hong Kong-based businessman YP Cheng and his son, King Cheng, this season.
Ryan had trained 23 winners the season before, including the $1 million Provincial-Midway Championship with Matcha Latte.
While Dilmi is still chasing a stakes-grade win, he has trained 34 winners this campaign at strike rate of 17 per cent - figures he hopes to improve with three runners at Rosehill on Saturday.
“It’s going well,” Dilmi said.
“When I started, we gave ourselves a target of 20 winners, which I thought at the time, with the changing of trainers, it might have been a big ask.
“But the horses have responded well to all the changes and it’s gone terrific, better than I expected. And hopefully next season we can hit a better target and try to win better races.”
Dilmi has two runners in the 1300m benchmark 72 Midway Handicap on Saturday, led by Koios ($10), which steps up to the Saturday city grade for the first time.
The five-year-old was a length away third last at Wyong over 1350m when carrying 60.5 kilograms, following wins at Kembla and Taree. Dilmi hoped a drop back to 57kg would put him in the frame.
“He ran well last start at Wyong, probably on an inferior part of the track,” he said.
“In his two wins this prep, he’s been very lightly weighted, and then he bounced to 60.5, so he was entitled to get tired, but he fought on pretty well. He’s flying.”
Piperita ($23) also takes on the Midway Saturday grade for the first time, although she has won at city midweek level. She finished well back in fifth when resuming last start on a heavy Kensington track over 1250m.
“She had a lot of weight on her back and it was just a little bit of a messy race, but she’s the type of filly that’s going to appreciate going further,” he said.
“If she repeats her run last start on the Kenso, with a longer straight, she’s entitled to finish a bit better and she should be in for another good preparation.”
Dilmi also has Viewpoint ($23) in the fourth, a benchmark 72 for three-year-olds over 1500m. He finished off well for fourth in a 1300m edition last start.
“I knew it was a hard race, but I thought the horse was going well enough to be in it and he ran really well,” he said.
“He steps up back to 1500 this time and I’ve decided to take the blinkers off him.
“It’s Saturday level, but it looks a bit easier than it was two weeks ago, so hopefully that gave him a bit of confidence and he can bounce back because he’s got the ability, but he’s still mentally about a prep away.”
