Jockey Brad Rawiller is confident that Second Effort can upstage a number of big name challengers when he defends his crown in the Group 2 P.B. Lawrence Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield next month.

Brad Rawiller believes Second Effort is good enough to win the P.B. Lawrence Stakes. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia

Second Effort recorded a solid win in the Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes (1200m) on Saturday but will face a much tougher field, which is expected to contain 2013 Melbourne Cup favourite Puissance De Lune, in the P.B. Lawrence Stakes.

Trainer Clinton McDonald set Second Effort for the early season weight-for-age races and deliberately started his campaign early so that the Mossman gelding would have a fitness edge heading into the Lawrence Stakes and the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m).

Rawiller told Racing Ahead Second Effort’s fitness edge gives him every chance to add another win at Group level to his impressive racing resume.

“I think that is the big key, he goes in there race ready and the others are targeting races down the track,” Rawiller said on RSN.

“He will go in there ready to run his best and the 1400 is probably ideal now.

“If he really gets some solid rain and it ends up being a wet track it improves his chances by two or three lengths.”

Rawiller will finish the 2012/2013 racing season as the winner of both the Australia-wide Jockeys’ Premiership and the overall Victorian jockeys’ Premiership but is already looking ahead to next season and has set winning the Neville Wilson Award for leading country racing jockey as his major goal after finishing second this year.

“Dean Yendall, all credit to him, is a fantastic rider and he looks like he is going to beat me this year,” Rawiller said.

“I’ve won the country premiership on a number of occasions but I have never won it since it has been Neville’s award and that could be my target next season.”