Battle of the Bush turns back the clock

[Wandering Eyes]

Moscini ready for the Battle of the Bush after qualifying at Goondiwindi Photo:: Kristy Banks

Age will not weary him.

The 12-year-old Hard Stride lined up for start number 122 and booked his place in the Battle of the Bush, taking out the Gympie qualifier on Saturday.

Based in Toowoomba for trainer Jason Judge the Street Sense gelding made it 18 career wins under Minonette Kennedy, claiming the spoils by half a length.

Kennedy said before the race that the elder campaigner had the track record to show what he could do and he proved that with the win impressing all connections.

“Very pleased with the old boy’s run,” she said.

“Knew I had to go forward otherwise the favourite may have been hard to run down seeing as I was carrying nearly 10kgs of dead weight.

“He had a little kick up going to the gates so I knew he was fresh enough to jump quick and I gave him a breather at the 600 before I wanted to try and put the gap on them at the 450.”

Trainer Judge said that his horse has proven what he is capable of impressing with performances.

“His resume speaks for itself and his performances show that he is just a naturally athletic horse.

“He is in good order and it is always tough to qualify but he showed that he is tough and versatile on different tracks and can carry weight like he did at the Gympie track when qualifying for the 2020 Country Stampede.

“He carried 66kg and won by seven breaking the track record on that day.

“Yesterday’s race was tough and he had to get going from the jump knowing Coat of Arms wouldn’t be too far away.

“So now we just sit quietly and watch who qualifies from here and make sure we present him fit and well on game day.

“Moscini won well at Gundy and Team Groves will have him spot on so it has started shaping to be tough race.”

In the Goondiwindi edition of the qualifiers, Fitzroy Boy got out to lead under Lilli Barr for his third start this prep and looked fresh and ready for the run.

Moscini was third last upon settling, but as pace quickened, hoop Nathan Fazackerley took the seven-year-old wide with 400m left to run.

In the home straight, he devoured ground to take the win and made it four straight victories for the Dale Groves-trained runner.

Fazackerley had piloted him home last start also retaining the ride and doing it again to stamp their ticket in this qualifier.

The hoop was happy with the performance.

“It was a great win by him. He’s going super.”

The local galloper Fitzroy Boy ran second with Oakfield Target finishing third under Emily Lang who commented on the performance.

“Raced well with the big weight but was just a little bit flat today on the quick back up,” she said.

The next qualifier of the Battle of the Bush will be run at Quilpie on April 29.

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