Rawiller Claims Sydney Jockeys Premiership

Nash Rawiller capped off his amazing comeback in the Sydney Jockeys’ Premiership by riding two winners at Warwick Farm yesterday to claim the title by four and a half wins from rival Hugh Bowman.

Nash Rawiller won secured his third Sydney Jockeys' Premiership Title at Warwick Farm yesterday. Photo by: Daniel Costello

Rawiller went into the final metropolitan meeting of the season with a two and a half wins lead and was able to secure his third premiership victory with his win aboard Diamond Jim in the second race of the day.

The leading jockey wasn’t finished there and picked up another victory on Sir Berus in the Warwick Farm Handicap (1400m) later in the day that saw him draw level with Michael Cahill at the top of the National Metropolitan Premiership.

Rawiller was clearly relived after securing the remarkable victory, admitting to News Limited that pre-meeting nerves kept him up studying race footage late into the night.

“The more I looked at the videos, the more I started to realise what good rides Hugh Bowman had,” Rawiller told The Daily Telegraph.

“I thought Hughie had a few good rides on paper, and I thought that ride of his (Msongari) was a given.

“I was very happy to get that first winner out of the way with Diamond Jim.

“Getting on horses like that and winning is what I try to pride myself on.”

The Sydney Premiership race looked over in March after Bowman had kicked twenty wins clear of Rawiller who missed a couple of months of racing due to an ankle injury.

Even when Bowman left to visit Ireland on holiday in June he looked as though he had his third premiership in the bag but a remarkable month of riding from Rawiller, which included twenty-three winners from only ten metropolitan meetings, was enough to steal the title.

Rawiller is now looking ahead to the 2013 Spring Racing Carnival, after having a week’s break, and is set to feature prominently in a number of major races.

He is expected to partner Melbourne Cup contender Fiorente throughout his campaign and has been booked to ride Rain Affair when he resumes in the Group 2 Missile Stakes (1200m) on August 10.

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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.