Love Conquers All

Jockey Chris Munce is confident that his mount, Love Conquers All, can stay true to his name and conquer Hay List in tomorrow’s Doomben 10,000.

Winning a second Doomben 10,000 is something that would mean a lot to Munce, who claimed his first ever Group 1 title in the race in 1992 aboard Barrosa Boy.

“I had just come out of my time as an apprentice and Barrosa Boy was my first Group 1 winner,” Munce said.

The jockey feels that he has the right horse to do it all over again tomorrow, and so too does co-trainer Michael Hawkes.

Love Conquers All is one of the only a few horses, apart from Black Caviar, who has won a race against Hay List.

“We’ve met Hay List twice and the score’s one-all,” Hawkes said.

“When Hay List first came over from Perth there were massive wraps on him but we managed to beat him in the (Listed) June Stakes at Randwick last year.

“He then beat us in the Manikato Stakes at Moonee Valley, the start after Love Conquers All was found to have had heart arrhythmia in the Bobbie Lewis at Flemington.”

Hawkes believes Love Conquers All is primed for tomorrow’s run.

“He galloped well over 1000 metres on the cushion track on Tuesday,” he said.

“He’s trained at home on the Proride track which is an artificial track at Rosehill so he adapted quickly to the cushion surface.

“He may lack some fitness against Hay List who is rock solid but Doomben won’t worry him and he’s a nice chance.”

Munce rode Love Conquers All in both his most recent starts, with the horse finishing runner-up in each race.

“He cost himself the race in the George Ryder when he went back to the fence in the worst part of the track,” Munce said.

“He ran out of his skin in both races and ran into better wet trackers on the day.”

While Munce feels that weight-for-age conditions are not well suited to Love Conquers All, he feels he is more than capable of taking Hay List by surprise in the 10,000.

“Weight-for-age is a negative for him but he’s racing well and has beaten Hay List before,” Munce said.

“If there’s any chink in Hay List’s armour it could be that he’s had some tough runs and may be coming to the end of his campaign.”