3 minute read

Brenton Le Grand and Mandy Cottell look back on the ten-race program at Rosehill Gardens and bring you the talking points of the undercard.

Al Ash Lad fights back in the Highway 

You didn't want to be on him at the 200m mark but Al Ash Lad ($5) fought back strongly to claim another Highway victory for Murwillumbah-based trainer Matthew Dunn. 

After jumping awkwardly from gate three, the son of Al Maher managed to lead them up over the 1500m journey but looked to have nothing left in the locker when The Coat Hanger ($31) headed him with a furlong to go. But the five-year-old showed plenty of tenacity to rally hard late under the urgings of Adam Hyeronimus to salute by a long neck. Atmospheric Rock ($4.20) produced another Highway placing a further head back in third place. 

"He was tough wasn't he?" Dunn mused. 

"He did a bit of work to get there but toughed it out really well."

Hoop Hyeronimus was grateful he could find the lead after such a scratchy start. 

"A big awkward horse, he scrambled out of the gates which didn't make it easy for us to find the front," Hyeronimus said. 

"I had to work for it, but I'm glad I did because once he got there he found a beautiful rhythm following the fence and that's probably what won him the race." 

Peace Officer too strong for Conners

Having recently been announced as an inductee into the Australian Racing Hall Of Fame, four-time Golden Slipper-winning trainer Clarry Conners has served a timely reminder of his talents by producing Peace Officer ($2.40F) for a Midway victory. 

The respected horseman has scaled down his operation from his halcyon days and has only a handful of horses in work, but he hasn't lost his passion for the business. 

"It's been a tremendous week for me, a great honour being inducted into the Hall of Fame of Racing," Conners said.  "That was a great thrill for my horse to win today, straight away too, just to let everybody know it wasn't a fluke, I can still train."  

Conners initially had Golden Slipper aspirations for Peace Officer but said they were quickly dashed by jockey Nash Rawiller. 

"He rode him in all his early races as a two-year-old, I had great ambitions of winning another Golden Slipper with him, that's what I thought of the horse," Conners said. 

"And he kept saying to me, 'Clarry he won't win the Slipper. He won't do it until a three or four-year-old'. So again the jockey was right." 

Rawiller was full of praise for the experienced conditioner, and believes his mount has even further improvement in store. 

"I know he's trained as many Golden Slipper winners as anyone but I think at the moment he's really focussed and wanting to make a statement," Rawiller said. 

"It's a pleasure to be a part of that. This little horse, there's another black-type race in him for sure down the track." 

Diamond could beckon for Marques

Godolphin's patient handling of Marquess ($2.45F) is continuing to pay dividends and trainer James Cummings doesn't believe the five-year-old has reached his ceiling.  

The son of Tavistock made it five wins from 10 starts with a resounding 2-1/2 length triumph in Saturday's Irresistible Pools And Spas Handicap (1900m) after being given an economical run by gun apprentice Zac Lloyd and sprinting quickly to put the race in the bag.  

"He's going places, Marquess. He is a promising horse and I don't think we have seen the best of him yet," Cummings said.  

"He keeps elevating and those horses, it's difficult to predict their ceiling, particularly given we have been so patient with him and he is a lightly-raced five-year-old."  

Cummings will weigh up his next move for Marquess but says the $2 million Five Diamonds (1800m) at Randwick on November 1 is among the options.  

"He has a lot of ratings points to catch up on a bunch of horses around that age," Cummings said.  

"But he is very fit now, we can keep him ticking over and keep our options open.  

"He keeps savaging the line and he's a very interesting horse in our stable."  

Former Irish stayer Mr Waterville, now with Chris Waller, was doing his best work late for fourth and could be one to keep an eye on deeper in the spring as he holds nominations for both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.  

Rawiller squares up Sydney Metro premiership

With injured rider James Mcdonald still out on the sidelines, Nash Rawiller has evened up the early race for the Sydney Metropolitan premiership with a trio of victories on the ten-race card. McDonald and Rawiller now sit on 15 wins for the season, ahead of Jason Collett, Tyler Schiller and Zac Lloyd who are all three back on 12. 

Rawiller kicked off the successful day with a win on the Clarry Conners-prepared Peace Officer in the Midway, before saluting in back-to-back Group 2's aboard Espiona and Cepheus. He almost made it a fantastic four with Godolphin colt Cylinder going down narrowly to finish third in the Group 1 Golden Rose. 

Rawiller was philosophical about how fickle the racing caper can be. 

"I've had plenty of bad luck too. I know James (McDonald) is out for a month at the moment I feel sorry for him and Josh Parr," Rawiller said. 

"I've had plenty of things happen over the last few years. You push on and keep working hard and hope to put yourself in a position I am at the moment."

Quote of the day: "It never felt like he was going to win, but funnily enough at the same time it never felt like he was going to get beat either" - A paradoxical Adam Hyeronimus after his mount Al Ash Lad got off the canvas to take out the Highway.