Nash Rawiller gets his chance to overhaul Hugh Bowman in the Sydney jockey premiership race at Canterbury tomorrow, courtesy of a full book of rides.
Nash Rawiller winning on Relaxed And Happy, one of his 4 winners at Rosehill last Saturday. Photo by Steve Hart.
And Rawiller won’t miss the chance to ride multiple winners again while Bowman watches from the sideline due to a careless riding suspension, but the front runner will be back to ride at the final two meetings at Randwick on Saturday and Warwick Farm next Wednesday.
Rawiller clawed back to one and a half wins behind Bowman with four winners at Rosehill last Saturday while Bowman missed out on riding a winner, describing the tightness of the battle for the top riding honours like a close game of tennis.
“I won the first two sets, but he hit back and won the third and then slammed me in the fourth 6-1,” Bowman said on Saturday after Rawiller chalked up the first four winners at Rosehill.
“It’s like a tennis match. Nash has all the momentum, I just have to hang in there.”
Rawiller will start the day on seventy wins and has done a remarkable job to get within striking distance of Bowman (71 ½ wins) after being out of the saddle for two months over the summer after breaking his ankle in a barrier incident just before Christmas.
He kicks off the first of his seven rides at Canterbury on one of Gai Waterhouse’s two year olds, Newcastle maiden winner Houston who no doubt will be hard to beat then rides Hurricane Henny for Gerald Ryan in the next.
Rawiller then teams up with Newcastle trainer Kris Lees on Rose Of Scotland and last start Scone winner Fine Bubbles in the next two races.
Leading trainer Chris Waller provides Rawiller with his next mount, Kristy Lee, who is having her first run since finishing third at Gosford over 1600m on March 11.
Rawiller’s last two rides are topweight Fullerton in the 1900m Benchmark 75 for Nick Olive and the Peter Snowden trained Omniscient in the 1100m Benchmark 75.
Waller also has a chance to extend his massive lead in the trainer’s premiership and has accepted with seven runners.
The leading trainer has 166 ½ wins on the board while Waterhouse is the closest of his rivals on 83 wins with Snowden on 71 ½ wins.
