Another Rawiller special gets The Gong
Top Sydney jockey takes path less travelled in Gringotts’ back-to-back wins in G3 race
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A trend-bucking ride from top Sydney jockey Nash Rawiller saw Gringotts rack up his second consecutive victory in the Group 3 The Gong (1,600m) on a heavy track at Kembla Grange on Nov 22.
PHOTO: Sky Racing World
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KEMBLA GRANGE – If everybody goes left, Nash Rawiller goes right, and the star jockey was again at his navigational best with a memorable steer aboard grand campaigner Gringotts in The Gong at Kembla Grange on Nov 22.
With consistent rain falling throughout the afternoon and a track downgraded to heavy, most jockeys were looking for a wide path in the straight.
But, after walking the track several times, Rawiller formed a different view and opted to stay to the inside aboard Gringotts.
“If I wasn’t confident, I wouldn’t have done it,” said Rawiller.
“You’ve got to back your judgment.
“I’ve got to be honest. I was worried at the 100 (metres). I thought, geez, I haven’t put them away. But I hadn’t really gone for him either.”
When Rawiller did go for Gringotts ($13 favourite), the gelding responded.
He surged again to deny Estadio Mestalla (Adam Hyeronimus) and claim his second consecutive victory in the A$1 million (S$842,000) Group 3 race over 1,600m with New Endeavour (Regan Bayliss) best of the rest.
It followed Gringotts’ effort to land successive victories in the A$3 million Listed Big Dance (1,600m) at Randwick on Nov 4 and, while he captured a Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1,500m) in Rosehill back in March, trainer Ciaron Maher said the horse had never raced better.
The Per Incanto six-year-old’s spring successes have also served to reward Maher’s patience, the trainer opting to back off when Gringotts returned a couple of poor blood readings following his first-up effort in the Group 1 Winx Stakes (1,400m) in August.
“What a beauty. God, he’s a good horse,” said Maher. “I think he is in career-best form. I know he’s won a Ryder, but I reckon he is in better form this preparation.
“He was dominant last start (in the Big Dance) and he was quite dominant today and because we missed a couple of races early in the prep he is still on the up.”
Maher admitted he was surprised when Rawiller told him he wanted to stay to the inside given the pattern of the day, but he also knew better than to argue.
Rawiller is renowned for his unconventional tactics, perhaps most famously when he brought Think It Over down the outside fence in the 2022 Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2,000m) and won.
“He said he walked the track four times, and he was keen to stay in. I was like, ‘righto’,” said Maher.
“You have to (back him). He’s walked it four times, I haven’t walked it once.
“He had a lot of faith in the horse. I was keen for Nash to stick with him and he’s just a beauty. He puts himself on speed, he makes his own luck.
“He is just a trainer-owner dream horse to have.”
That 12th victory took Gringotts’ prizemoney tally to over A$6 million, and Maher said he would get a chance to add to that in next month’s Group 2 The Ingham (1,600m) at Randwick. SKY RACING WORLD
