‘My best sprinter’: Rawiller reflects on Eduardo ahead of Lightning
The career of champion jockey Nash Rawiller has been synonymous with star horses Pierro and More Joyous, but a win on Eduardo in Saturday’s Lightning Stakes would make the sprinter Rawiller’s greatest ever prizemoney earner.
Just nine horses will take their place in the $1 million sprint down the Flemington straight, Australia’s richest 1000-metre race, but the star-studded field already boasts earnings close to $37 million between them.
Star sprinter Eduardo.Credit:Getty Images
Eduardo, with $5.627 million, sits well shy of arch nemesis and Everest winner Nature Strip, who boasts in excess of $16 million, but that will mean little to the two horses who will continue their head-to-head rivalry over the sprint trips.
While Eduardo has already surpassed More Joyous and Pierro in career prizemoney, Rawiller has only ridden him in 10 of 24 career starts, amassing seven wins and $3.875 million. Saturday’s top prize of $600,000 would see Rawiller take Eduardo to the top of his tally.
“That’s surprising, isn’t it? The past 18 months he’s just been so consistent and very well managed, and really has just kept improving as the races have got harder and harder,” Rawiller said.
“I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve been able to get on some lovely horses over the years and some good stables behind me, and when you get horses like Think It Over and Eduardo come along at the same time, it’s a whole new level. It’s a bit like when I was riding Pierro and More Joyous at the same time.”
Few horses of recent times have attracted Rawiller’s attention away from Sydney like Eduardo, but a trip to Doomben last year proved fruitful and the 65-time group 1 winner is hoping for likewise in Melbourne.
“I try and follow the carnivals anyway, but you want to be trying to ride in the best races,” he said.
“I think I got off him two years ago in the Everest, and that was a decision I probably regretted afterwards, not that he won on that occasion, but he ended up getting a run.
“At that time when I took another ride, he didn’t have a run in the race. Apart from that, you’d probably have needed a pick and shovel to get me off his back, I reckon.”
Eduardo (centre) got the better of Nature Strip in The Shorts last year.Credit:Getty
Nature Strip will start favourite in Saturday’s race, named after the legendary Black Caviar, but Eduardo has won two of their last four meetings, one at 1000 metres and the other at 1100. Both Nature Strip’s wins came at 1200.
But Rawiller said he wouldn’t spend too much time worrying about what Jamie Kah is doing on Nature Strip.
“I think it’s more about riding your own horse,” Rawiller said.
“He’s the type of horse that has had the speed to really annoy Nature Strip in the past, and that’s doing it at his own cruising speed. To some extent, he’s probably been Nature Strip’s little chink in his armour, that’s just through me riding my own horse and not trying to be too clever to get in Nature Strip’s way.
“You’ve just got to use your horse’s best assets.”
Like Nature Strip, Eduardo loves to lead at a quick tempo, but Rawiller is cautious the straight poses a different challenge.
“I don’t know [how he’ll go down the straight],” the Sydney hoop said.
“He raced well there as a younger horse, but it is a different ball game. You’ve got Nature Strip who obviously loves the straight, and the three-year-old of Chris’ too I suppose [Home Affairs]. But I think he’s that professional now, I don’t think it’ll pose any problems for him whatsoever.”
Two trial wins has Eduardo spot on, according to Rawiller, and some banter from trainer Joe Pride – who tweeted a photo of Eduardo eating grass off a nature strip “for breakfast” on Thursday morning – has punters excited about the clash.
“I’m really happy with him,” Rawiller said.
“He’s a picture of health and his trials have been really nice. He’s probably the best 1000-metre horse I’ve ever ridden. I’m looking forward to him getting to one of Australia’s better group 1s at the 1000 metres, it’s probably the benchmark race over 1000 metre really.”
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
Most Viewed in Sport
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article