Dolendo wins in his return at Taree

Popular jockey Marlon Dolendo has made a triumphant return to race riding with a winner at Taree on Friday, his first meeting since undergoing a kidney transplant last year.

Dolendo, 39, had two rides at the Taree meeting and scored aboard the Jenelle Butler-trained Can Be Silly in his second ride of the day.

“It didn’t take me long,” Dolendo told Sky Racing.

“It’s a miracle day. If it wasn’t for my sister I wouldn’t be here today.”

In December 2010, Dolendo had to be assisted from the track by the clerk of the course due to exhaustion.

Subsequent tests showed Dolendo’s kidneys were operating at less than 10 per cent capacity and he was put on a dialysis machine four days a week.

Dolendo’s sister Marie donated a kidney with the successful transplant operation taking place in August last year.

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