Jamie Mott has piloted the Annabel Neasham & Rob Archibald-trained Mighty Ulysses ($15) to victory in the Group 3 Moonga Stakes to round out proceedings at Caulfield on Saturday afternoon.
The five-year-old gelding was first-up going into the race, but he didn’t show any signs of a lack of fitness as he stormed home from the back of the field to nab Buffalo River ($34) in the shadows of the winning post.
Buffalo River crossed the field from his wide barrier to lead from Globe ($26), who was happy to settle behind the speed and received an economical run in transit.
Turning for home, Celine Gaudray let Buffalo River run for the judge, but Globe chased gamely on the inside, with Luke Currie asking for the ultimate effort.
However, little did they know Mott and Mighty Ulysses were charging home after finally gaining a run through the field.
With Mott lifting Mighty Ulysses and getting everything out of him late, he took over with only a few strides to go and claimed victory by a long neck.
2024 Moonga Stakes replay – Mighty Ulysses
Kyle Ryan represented the winning stable in the post-race interview.
“We thought he’d be competitive, if everything went right,” Ryan said.
“The speed was on and he got the job done.
“Let him be, I think.
“That’s the way to have him, had a trial on Tuesday, which was a good shout from the boss, trial on Tuesday, just try and knock the edge off him he needed for today, and that’s worked a treat.”
Jamie Mott picked up his first winner on Caulfield Cup Day in the final race, and he spoke post-race.
“Yeah, unbelievable, I spoke to Annabel about him a couple of weeks ago and she said he had as good a form as Zaaki coming over and he was a bit of a strong-headed horse through his first campaign,” Mott said.
“He was able to win a listed race really impressively and he’s come back in fantastic order.
“I trialled him last week at Pakenham and he was strong in his jump out but it’s only obviously trial tempo.
“With that tempo today in the race, he got into a pretty good rhythm and when I got out, I thought we were going to run a nice race but when he really hit top gear, from about the furlong I was confident he was going to get him.
“Unbelievable performance and if we can keep him relaxed, he’s going to get to a good level.
“Big future and a big motor and he ran across that ground like we were on a good four.
“He’s very good horse and lets hope we can keep him in one piece and he keeps relaxed like he was today, and he’ll be in for more big races for sure.”
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