Australia Stakes Day (Moonee Valley) – January 29th

Entry Education Martin Ralston Cup

(BM70 Handicap - 2040m)

Post Race Details & Comments

Winning Horse: Rousseau (AUS)


4yoG So You Think (NZ) - Solar Rock (Aus)(Encosta De Lago (Aus))

23 starts - 4 wins 5 seconds 3 thirds 3 fourths $289650

Other Wins

1st Moonee Valley Tote Bar & Dining (Bm70) 2040m (2021)

1st Caulfield Rod Fenwick Hcp 2000m (2021)

1st Pakenham Iron Jack Aust. Lagers Mdn 1600m (2021)

Other Placings

2nd Rosehill Campbelltown Catholic Clb-Bm72 1800m (2021)

2nd Moonee Valley Ranvet (Bm70) 2040m (2021)

3rd Sale Carlton Draught (Bm64) 2238m (2021)

2nd Mornington Mcleod Trees (Bm64) 2050m (2021)

2nd Yarra Valley United Petroleum (Bm64) 1950m (2021)

3rd Sandown-Lakeside Thoroughbred Club (Bm64) 1600m (2021)

3rd Bendigo Bendigo Mg Mdn Plate 1600m (2020)

2nd Warwick Farm Tab Venue Mode Mdn Plate 1200m (2020) (Debut Run)


Race Result:

1st: Rousseau (C Waller/D Oliver) - $9.00

2nd: Aurora’s Symphony (S Wilde/J Richards) - $13
3rd:
 Shakespeare (P Payne/T Hope) - $31

Winning Time: 2:09.69  Last 600m: N/A

Margins: 3¾L x 1¼L

Winning Trainer: Chris Waller (rep by Jo Taylor)

Decision to bring the horse back to Melbourne: “He’s proven to be quite effective going the Melbourne way and we looked at the field and thought he’d be competitive here regardless of the barrier.

“Damien, when he made that midrace move, it was either going to be detrimental or genius but when you’ve got someone like Damien aboard I think it shows.

“You just trust his judgement when you have a jockey with his expertise you let them do the riding and they certainly know their races and how to sum them up and I think it showed today.”

Blinkers on: “He was just doing things a little bit too aggressively in the early stages of his races and then not quite applying himself in the end. I think, today, he applied himself.”

Winning Jockey: Damien Oliver

Why he made the move he did and when: “I’m sick of farcically run races as we saw in the first few - ridiculously slow tempo and it was just no hope where I was.

“I wasn’t interfering with the horse, he was spending no petrol and it was the best thing I did.

“The tempo completely came out of the race midrace. He was bold and he kept going, it was a good effort.

“Good stable to be riding for. They’ve got a lot of firepower and their horses are always turned out well. It’s good to team up with them.”