Mr Moet Thriving Back In Perth Ahead Of Railway Stakes

Trainer Adam Durant believes that Mr Moet has improved significantly since returning to Perth, after his 2013 Spring Racing Carnival campaign in Melbourne, and is thriving ahead of the Group 1 2013 Railway Stakes (1600m) this weekend.

Mr Moet has the chance to become just the third horse to win the Railway Stakes in back-to-back years if he is successful in the Group 1 event at Ascot tomorrow.

Mr Moet has the chance to become just the third horse to win the Railway Stakes in back-to-back years if he is successful in the Group 1 event at Ascot tomorrow. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia

Mr Moet had four starts at Group 1 level during the spring, finishing sixth in the Caulfield Cup (2400m) and fourth in the Mackinnon Stakes (2000m), but Durant told Racing Ahead that he could never get the six-year-old to his peak condition while he was in Melbourne.

Durant said that the condition of Mr Moet has come on significantly in the past week and is confident that the son of Mosayter will be going into the Railway Stakes on Saturday at close to his peak fitness.

“He has come home really well and he is back into his old routine,” Durant said on RSN.

“He seems to have come on really well and he looks to my eye to be in better nick.

“I couldn’t get him to peak over in Melbourne and in his condition he just looked a bit showy to me and he looked too pretty.

“His first gallop when we got home, he was in need of that workout on our track and since then he has progressed really well and his heart rate is back down to exactly what it was last year when he won the Railway.

“His weight is the same as it was and there is a lot to be said about your home ground advantage and having your own track to work on.

“Our workouts were a little bit different to what he was used to in Melbourne, in the heavy sand, and in the last seven to ten days he has really started to tuck up nice and look like the horse that I wanted him to look like in Melbourne.”

Mr Moet’s chances of joining Miss Muffet and Tudor Mak as the only back-to-back winners of the Railway Stakes took a hit when he drew the outside barrier of the 20 horse field but Durant has been adamant throughout the week that the outside gate may actually be an advantage for the six-year-old.

Durant believes that the best place to be over a mile at Ascot is deep without cover and he feels that 2013 Railway Stakes betting favourite Smokin’ Joey will be stuck up against the fence with nowhere to run in the final stages of the race.

“It is not ideal but in saying that when you draw outside ten at Ascot you basically need to be looking for a three wide with cover run, which I think is the best place to be,” Durant said.

“There isn’t much speed drawn in close, it is all out wide, and Smokin’ Joey is probably the horse drawn the closest to the inside that has pace.

“He is going to be shoved straight to the fence and he is not going to have much say in it.

“There is not going to be any sitting three wide and one off for him because there is plenty of pace out wide, which will put him in a position where they are not going to let him float along as he likes.”

Mr Moet is considered an outsider at Railway Stakes odds of $19 but was available at a similar price when he beat Luckygray and Rosie Rocket to win the 2012 edition of the race.

About The Author

Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.