Three Year Old Club Command will go down in the record books as the horse that chalked up trainer Peter Moody and jockey Luke Nolen’s 600th winner together.
Club Command's victory at Caulfield was the 600th for the Moody and Nolen partnership - photo © Race Horse Photos Australia
And in the process became Moody’s 90th Metropolitan winner for the season which helped him to his third trainer’s premiership and also wrapped up Luke Nolen’s third Melbourne jockey’s premiership.
Club Command completed a winning treble for the pair at Caulfield on Saturday after Planet Voyage took out the two year old race and new stable acquisition Ready To Rip made it two out of two for Moody taking out the Group 3 $125,000 Bletchingly Stakes (1200m).
But the 600 winners for the Moody-Nolen combinations is a remarkable achievement and has surpassed the 500 plus winners that Lee Freedman and Damien Oliver put together when the Freedman Brothers dominated Melbourne racing in the 1990s.
The partnership for the boys from Queensland began at Sale in 2003 when Moody mistakenly booked Nolen for Umagold, thinking he had engaged Nolen’s brother Shaun.
Umagold went on to win her maiden that day and started the clock ticking for a fantastic relationship which has included the fairy tale story of the unbeaten Black Caviar for which Nolen combined for nineteen wins among her twenty-two undefeated victories, including the historic win in the Group 1 £500,000 The Diamond Jubilee Stakes (6 furlongs) at Royal Ascot on June 23.
“I’m really proud of what we’ve done. You’ve got to remember loyalty is a two-way street,” Moody said.
“We can have our blues, but we both get on with the job. It’s been a hell of a ride and it’s a great effort.”
“Luke has played a huge part in my career and particularly this year, my best season ever.”
“I’d like to think I’ve played a part in his too.”
Nolen remembers his first winner for Moody on Umagold all those years ago and described the achievement as awesome.
“That was our first winner and it’s remarkable it’s gone on for nine years since,” Nolen said.
“It’s been a pleasure, really. Peter’s horses are well prepared, it makes it easier.”
Moody took his winning tally for the season to 91 with the Caulfield treble on Saturday and one winner on Sunday at Sandown while Nolen wound up with 74 winners, five clear of rival Craig Newitt who was still in contention heading into Saturday’s meeting.
The lightly raced Club Command recorded his fifth win from eight starts and Moody will decide in the next few days if the Commands three year old will continue on into the early Spring or go for a well deserved break.
“That was a big effort by him. He’s been in work for a while. He’ll either have one more start or I’ll give him a spell,” he said.
The Group 2 $220,000 Lawrence Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on August 18 could be Club Command’s next start and Ready To Rip looks likely to start in the same race after impressing Moody on Saturday with his quick improvement.
“I thought his work was a bit plain before he won at Flemington but his work on Tuesday showed he had really lifted,” he said
“In Queensland, he was a bit of a first-up specialist, so it’s a good effort to win at weight-for-age second-up.”
Ready To Rip joined the Moody stable this campaign after winning five races in South East Queensland and has an unblemished first up record.
