Moses Looking To Ease The Pain
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday March 29, 2008
WATCHING Weekend Hussler at trackwork yesterday morning capped a tumultuous week for horseman Kevin Moses. The three-time Sydney premiership-winning jockey, now a trainer, was left wondering what's inside racing's latest super horse.
"You look at him and say, 'Where does he get it from?"' Moses said yesterday. "He is not the best-looking horse you've ever seen but he just knows how to run. He is a racehorse, he just wants to win, he just wants to run. He has something and his trainer knows it, too."The Ross McDonald-trained Weekend Hussler makes his Sydney debut in today's Randwick Guineas. The three-year-old gelding arrives from Victoria having won seven of nine starts, four at group 1 level.Weekend Hussler's seemingly auspicious form was a telling contrast for Moses, who had a good horse depart the scene when Jozi collapsed after passing the winning post at Canterbury on Wednesday. "I thought she [Jozi] was outstanding," Moses said. "I thought this is the first one I can win a group 1 with. I thought she was just a steering job. I've never been on anything that could go as good as she could go."Not even 40 years around horses could ease Moses' pain. Jozi was from the same family as the group 1-winning sprinter Easy Rocking and the former Hong Kong champ Fairy King Prawn."I've been with horses since I was 15, I love them," Moses said. "I enjoy them, being able to ride work each morning is keeping me in the game."I used to get all excited about winning a race but I don't know how long I'll do it for now. The rewards aren't there. You get one ready, everything is right, you've finally drawn the right barrier, there is not a problem, the owners are good - and then the jockey has a bad day."Moses takes on Weekend Hussler with race outsider My Sweet Cookie, which is coming off a last-start win at Kembla Grange."I'm hoping to see if he is good enough to run in these type of races," Moses said. "They might be just too good for him but he has always showed me something."Moses will also start two-year-old debutant Rhyno Chaser in the Skyline Stakes, and unbeaten filly Tenant's Tiara in the Strada Stakes."I didn't want to run [Tenant's Tiara] the other day and she proved me wrong. I hope the two-year-old proves me wrong tomorrow," he said.According to Moses, Rhyno Chaser "goes not bad" and "he is still learning" but his owners are keen to compete on feature race days. "I had him in on Wednesday, the owners didn't want to run him," Moses said. "I had him at Kembla in an ordinary race, they didn't want to run him. They said tomorrow's race is a glorified class 1 race at Randwick and he might pick up some good prizemoney."Moses isn't concerned about Tenant's Tiara, which emerged from a midweek victory at Canterbury to swamp rivals in Saturday company at Rosehill a fortnight ago."I had her in a class 75 race but she ended up winning $90,000 [including payment from the Breeder Owner Bonus Scheme]," Moses said. "I would have won about $15,000 with her where I wanted to go."Moses remembers riding Tenant's Tiara out of the barriers for the first time on the training track. "She led them by about five lengths. I told the owners, 'I don't know how far she'll go but I know for a couple of furlongs she can run.'"And she has just kept improving, the bar keeps rising and she keeps clearing it. We've had all sorts of problems, she was banned from the barriers but she has matured ... All of a sudden she said, 'Right, I'm going to win."'Rounding out the team is Moses's Sydney Cup-bound stayer, No Wine No Song, which runs in the Randwick City Stakes (2000 metres). "He is getting up to his distance, he is a stayer," Moses said. "I'm happy with him. I'm happy to have horses in these races tomorrow. A couple are big odds, but most will beat more home than beat them home."
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
