3 minute read

More By Chance’s last run at Coonamble had to be seen to be believed.

The six-year-old gelding, trained by Mark Jones at Dubbo, came out of the barriers pig rooting and bucking giving champion jockey Greg Ryan a torrid time.

Ryan eventually managed to get More By Chance under control but the bird, as they say, had flown.

“He was probably fifteen lengths behind the last horse and 25 off the leader,” Jones recalled. “He was a long, long, way back.”

To everyone’s amazement, especially Jones, More By Chance kept coming to the line eventually going under by just 3.3 lengths when fourth to With Care over 1100m in a Class 2 handicap on October 11. His closing sectionals must have been outstanding.

“It was a pretty miraculous run considering the circumstances,” Jones suggested. “He just kept coming, coming and coming and was just outside the placegetters. I’ve never seen a horse do that to fly home like that and almost have a chance of winning.

“He’s generally an extremely quite horse. Never done anything like that in his life. Maybe with the small saddle it may have pinched him. I just don’t know.”

Stewards ordered More By Chance barrier trial, the gelding completing the task without any hiccups at Narromine on October 17.

“He was on the bit and just worked home,” Jones added.

On Saturday at Dubbo More By Chance steps out again hopefully without the antics at his previous start, Jones experimenting by stepping the gelding up to 1400m in the Macquarie Inn Benchmark 50 Hcp.

“He’s trained on well, eating good and doing everything right,” Jones said. “But he’s a funny horse. Some days he can be brilliant, other days he isn’t.

“If the right horse turns up on the day he’ll be hard to beat but there are two of him. It depends which one turns up on the day.”

Mathew Cahill takes the mount.