Rawiller finds his groove as he Excels again with treble

03/02/2017

By Andrew Hawkins

Jockey Nash Rawiller admitted that he was thinking he may have lost his groove as he struggled immediately after a return from suspension last month, but the Australian rider was riding high after scoring a treble at just his fourth meeting back to dominate proceedings at Happy Valley on Thursday night (2 February).

“I’m very happy, it’s good!” he said after partnering Excel Oneself, Charity Joy and Inventor to victories on the rare Thursday night card at the city track, providing the 42-year-old with his first Happy Valley wins since 16 November. “Look, the first two meetings back, I felt like it was just a blur. And I was really worried because I was in such a zone before I went out. But I worked pretty hard and straight away it seems to be going pretty well, I got the winner on Monday for Danny Shum (Lucky Wan Feng) and then three tonight.”

Rawiller rode 23 winners in the first three months of the season and was one of the form jockeys on the Hong Kong roster, but after riding at the Sha Tin meeting on 4 December, he did not return again until the Hong Kong Classic Mile card on 22 January.

However, he believed he had a couple of chances of returning to the Happy Valley winners’ circle on Thursday night heading into the meeting.

“There were a couple of horses there that had awful draws and they looked like they needed things to go their way,” he said. “But they are actually very consistent animals, they try hard every time you send them around. I was confident that some of them would run well. The last horse was the one that surprised me, though, how deep he dug.”

The “last horse” was Shum-trained Inventor (128lb) in the Class 3 Mut Wah Handicap (1650m), a three-time course and distance winner who had lost his way in recent starts after beginning his season strongly.

Inventor settled near the rear of the field as 2.8 favourite California Joy (131lb) set the pace at moderate fractions, leading the 12 runners through the first 850m in a sedate 52.01s. At this point, though, Rawiller – sitting near the rear one out on 15/1 chance Inventor – made the ultimately decisive move, shifting his mount out wide and making a sweeping run around the field.

“It was decided between Nash and myself that we’d try to take off approaching the Rock,” Shum said, referencing a historical marker situated near the 750m. “That’s the part where they normally slow down. It didn’t look like it had worked, but Nash, he gets them to lift.”

Rawiller continued: “He hit that flat spot, but he was a bit like me – we reached the furlong (200m) and I thought, ‘this thing isn’t getting away from me’. I knew my bloke would keep the gallop up. It was a big effort, he did do a bit wrong getting to the line and he was a bit wayward, but he still found so much. To be honest, we thought he’d be better over 1800m, but he runs a really strong mile too.”

Inventor’s short-head win provided the second leg of a race-to-race double for Shum and Rawiller, having earlier taken the Class 3 Hung To Handicap (1200m) on Charity Joy (132lb).

Sent off at 14/1, Charity Joy raced outside leader Hella Hedge (116lb) and kicked strongly into the straight, before holding off the late charge of odds-on fancy Love Shock (130lb), who just failed in his quest to give jockey Joao Moreira a four-timer and trainer John Size a treble.

“It looked on paper like we’d get across all fine,” Rawiller said. “He travelled a little bit keenly outside the leader for 100 metres but, look, he’s one of those consistent types, he puts his best foot forward every time he races and he was getting down to a rating where he should be hard to beat. Thankfully, the photo went our way.”

The brace for Shum gave the partnership 10 wins for the season, and with Rawiller only riding 49 horses for the trainer this season, the jockey and trainer have a win strike rate together of over 20 per cent.

“He’s been a great supporter of me,” Rawiller said. “You need someone like him to push you to do your best and get up in the mornings and help out. I try to do it for everyone, too, but I think when you’ve got someone like Danny and they are rewarding you, it makes it easier to get up with a smile on your face.”

“I wish I could use him more!” Shum added. “All credit to Nash, he’s been a real asset to some of these horses and I’m limited in the horses I can put him on because of his weight, but where I can, I like to have him riding for us.”

Rawiller also had earlier joy for another ardent supporter in Me Tsui, with Excel Oneself (133lb) providing the pair with their fourth win for the term in the opener, the Class 4 Shing Yip Handicap (1000m).

“He showed to me last time out at Sha Tin that 1200m is a bit too far for him,” Tsui said. “He has won over 1200m but he needs everything to go his way, so I thought stepping back to 1000m would suit him. I didn’t expect the margin to be so big though!”

Championship leaders Moreira and Size continued their strong recent runs with a treble and double respectively, the pair combining for wins with Wisky (131lb) in the second section of the Class 4 Wai Yip Handicap (1650m) and Premiere (130lb) in the Class 3 Hoi Yuen Handicap (1000m).

The latter overcame fast sectionals on the front end and an 11-point rise in the ratings to win his third race in a row, with Size suggesting speed is the sprinter’s best asset: “He’s a fast horse so it didn’t matter what was taking him on up in front. It was only a narrow win but it was a good win.”

Moreira also won on Francis Lui-trained Sparkling Sword. The consistent son of Danzero landed just his fourth win at start 45 in the first section of the Class 4 Wai Yip Handicap (1650m), and the handler was ashen-faced after his charge just got the nod in a photo finish over David Hall’s grey Argentum.

“You love having horses like that in the stable, but I really don’t want to live through the last 200 metres again!” Lui exclaimed. “He’s a big striding horse, he just needs to be allowed to run at his own rhythm, and then he is one-paced so he needs things to go his way. That is why he can run so many placings without winning. Thankfully, Joao did just enough to hold on!”

Hong Kong racing returns at Sha Tin on Sunday (5 February), with the running of the G3 Centenary Vase Handicap (1800m). The 10-race card is scheduled to begin at 1pm.