News

Mosheen Back In Brilliant Touch

4th Feb 2012

Racing And Sports - Glenn Moore - Saturday, 4 February 2012

One of Australia's best fillies, Mosheen, showed she has come back as good as ever with a dominant victory in the $100,000 Listed Shadwell Stud Australia Manfred Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on Saturday.

The Golden Slipper runner-up and VRC Oaks winning filly, who is now half-owned by Japanese owner Katsumi Yoshida, returned to form in emphatic fashion, beating a solid field with ears pricked.

Trained by Robert Smerdon and ridden by Dan Nikolic, Mosheen jumped well from the gates, sat a little wide in the run but travelled comfortably and responded to Nikolic's riding at every turn.

She cruised up to the leader after round the turn then when Nikolic asked for a sprint she quickly put a space on the field. At the line she was easing down with ears pricked, a sign she was doing it all very easily and the best is still yet to come.

The official margin was a length and three quarters to That's The One (Williams) with Highly Recommend (Nolen) a further length away in third place. The overall time was 1.10.70 with the last 600m run in 35.18.

“It's great to see things pan out the way they have,” owner Phil Sly said. “To sell half the horse to the Japanese and now for this to come to fruition, these blokes are pretty happy.

“The big boss from over in Japan was just on the phone then and he is ecstatic. He is a man who is pretty humble about how he goes about things, he and I have struck up a relationship and it is going to be a good thing for everybody.

“I went over to Japan last year with Troy Corstens and bought a filly over there to race, she seems to be a good filly over there and I got to meet Katsumi (Yoshida) at Northern Farm and struck up a relationship.

“We will take it one race at a time now, Smerdon said to me that she was at 80 per cent for this, so if that is 80 per cent I am looking for to 90, 95 and maybe even 100 per cent.

“I am hoping she ends up in the Coolmore Classic in Sydney.”

Nikolic was full of praise for the class filly on his return to scale and will no doubt be hoping a lucrative trip to Japan is in his future.

“She is my little ray of hope,” Nikolic said. “She is the only decent horse I am riding and she put paid to them pretty well today.

“I had the race won a long way out, probably at the 600m, she'd relaxed well and I just let her cruise up to them on the turn then when I asked her to sprint she showed a really good turn of foot.

“Mr Yoshida has bought into a really nice horse, whatever she goes in she will be hard to beat, she has class written all over her and it is all thumbs up for her now.”

Mosheen is by Fastnet Rock out of the Stravinsky (USA) mare Sumehra (NZ) and is owned by P S & Miss S E Sly, K Yoshida, P S Kelly, Miss B J Sly, J H Kreuzer, Ms J M McCaughey, B A Wilson, B S Stanley & T A Corstens. She has a record of four wins and four minors from 10 starts and has amassed prizemoney totalling $1,606,700.

Photo: Mosheen as a yearling