A liking for red wine and good food may not be the right recipe for a jockey looking to take a light ride in one of Australia’s great feature races.
But after a winter stint in Singapore, jockey Daniel Moor is back in Melbourne again looking to build a name for himself.
Moor rides Muramasa for Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) on Saturday having returned to Melbourne a little over a week ago.
A stint in Singapore came to a halt after Moor partnered Big Hearted in the Singapore Gold Cup, the final race on the island nation after a storied 181-year history.
Moor had to get down to 52 kg to ride Big Hearted on October 5, and knowing he was in line for the ride on Muramasa he has been able to keep his weight in check.
“Having that sort of winter in Singapore allows me to ride lighter because I haven’ t got any winter guts on me,” Moor said.
Moor has had success for Busuttin and Young, along with the owners of Muramasa Ozzie Kheir and partners, who all combined with Sierra Sue to win in Group 1 company back in 2021.
That was the first of Moor’s four Group 1 wins and he is thankful to all concerned for giving him such a big Group 1 opportunity upon his return to Melbourne.
“I’ve been doing this for three or four years now, and I’m well aware of what I have to do when I get back,” Moor said.
“You go straight beneath the bottom of the pond, out of sight, out of mind (when away), but if you can ride a few winners early on, it helps, but you just need to be back and get in the system and ride trials and work and get back into it.
“I’m light but I’m not afraid of work.”
Moor won three races on the trot aboard Muramasa last spring, starting off over 1630m at Flemington, followed by the Group 3 Coongy Cup (2000m) at Caulfield and then the Group 3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2600m) at Flemington during Melbourne Cup week.
A similar program of spacing Muramasa’s races this campaign has been adopted by Busuttin and Young and while Moor has not ridden the gelding this campaign, he is well aware of the five-year-old’s progression.
“He comes in off some reasonable runs, first-up, second-up, well underneath his best sort of distance,” Moor said.
“He gets out to this trip, he’ll run the trip, he’s off a good mark, he’s got a good gate.
“I’m confident he’ll beat home more than beat him, and if the stars align, he’s a top five hope.
“The owners are very good to me, the stable’s very good to me, and I know the horse really well, so it’s worked out nicely.”
