John O’Shea & Tom Charlton have taken out the Group 1 William Reid Stakes with Schwarz (+450) at Moonee Valley on Saturday afternoon, thanks to a great frontrunning ride by Jamie Mott.
The son of Zoustar was heavily backed with horse racing bookmakers in the concluding stages of betting, due to the track bias at The Valley, with several on-speed runners claiming victory throughout the meeting.
As expected, Schwarz jumped smartly from his barrier to find the front, with She’s Bulletproof (+550) pushing forward to settle outside the leader and ensure the race was run at a strong tempo.
Arabian Summer (+900) headed the remainder of the field two lengths adrift, while Benedetta (+600) and Maharba (+1800) started to make their runs from the halfway mark in an attempt to chase down the eventual winner.
She’s Bulletproof couldn’t spring with Schwarz in the final 300m, and the only potential challenger appeared to be Benedetta, who looped the field and started to let down strongly.
However, her finishing burst was to no avail, as Schwarz continued to find and held on to win by a length over Benedetta and Jimmysstar (+180), who flew home from last in the final 200m.
Tom Charlton was on course at Mooney Valley to represent the winning stable after the feature race.
“It’s fantastic. I’m thrilled for the horse, the ownership group and all our staff that have put a fantastic effort into this horse. I’m thrilled for them,” Charlton said.
“He did give us some confidence. It was an interesting watch.
“I thought Craig Williams put a good bit of pressure on us on She’s Bulletproof and I was slightly surprised by the kick this horse gave at the top of the straight.
“It was a dominant win. He’s a big ticket stallion by Zoustar with a big pedigree. Team Rosemont will be very pleased.
“He’s a relatively lightly-raced horse and we’ve learned quite a bit about him again this preparation.
“He was dominant here fresh, didn’t quit back-up two weeks later over 1400 metres and we had in the back of our mind to target again here, fresh, 1200 metres.
“Credit to everyone and obviously my boss who is the mastermind of these things. I’m just very thankful to be in this position.”
Jamie Mott was elated with the win, and he spoke to the media post-race.
“Obviously there’s a few jockeys in Sydney and I was lucky enough that Tom and John got a hold of my manager and I got the ride. I jumped at the opportunity,” Mott said.
“I have known Mitho and Nigel for a long time and we’ve had success but not at the top level. Really satisfying win.
“Before the meeting I was a little concerned that the fence might be off by this race.
“The way the day played out it gave me more confidence that how I’m going to ride him is really going to suit and give him jos nest chance to win the race.
“We got pressure early from She’s Bulletproof – he wouldn’t go back from his wide draw – so he did pressure me and he gave me a really strong kick in that going.
“He was good enough to hold them and it was a terrific win.
“At about the 100 metre mark, they can come quickly at The Valley so you don’t want to celebrate too early. Hopefully that is not his last win.”
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