By David Nagel
Pakenham trainer Peter Moody is celebrating his fourth win in the Group 3 T.S. Carlyon Cup (1600m) after Pounding continued to defy a long-preparation at Sandown Hillside on Saturday.
The four-year-old Exceed and Excel gelding made it three wins on the trot, and entered the winners’ enclosure for the fourth time in a 10-race preparation that extends all the way back to July of last year.
Pounding overcame the widest draw in the 14-horse field, gaining a beautiful run throughout the race from jockey Jamie Kah after the field strung out in the early stages of the race.
Kah peeled out to the middle of the track in the straight, with Pounding delivering a withering finishing burst to race clear to win by two lengths on the line.
Moody had previously won the race with Niagara Falls (2005), Live In Vain (2006) and with Manighar (2012) more than a decade ago.
“I think we kicked him off back in July on wet ground and he was probably lucky not to end up in a tried horse sale or online auction, but we decided we’d ride this out and look for good ground,” Moody said post-race.
“It took us six months to get it but (he’s) just racking them up with a fair bit of ease.
“It would have been a long day without him.
“He’s racing in great heart and Jamie gave him such a sweet ride and he’s just really in the zone.
“I thought I saw a few tell-tale signs that he might have been coming towards the end of his prep – ears back and a little bit cantankerous which isn’t usually him – but he’s made a mug out of me, thankfully.”
Kah was also effusive of Pounding’s performance.
“He’s becoming one of my favourites,” she said.
“He’s a tough honest horse and he had to be today.
“He flew along, had to be fit and at the top of his game.
“Somehow, he keeps getting better with more racing.
“I was confused with what we were going to do (after the jump) so I just waited until we jumped to work it out.
“(Peter) Moody left me with an open book and in the end, I couldn’t have asked for a better run.
“They strung along and he was probably at his top a long way out be but he just kept sustaining it.”
Kah also rode I’m Thunderstruck in the Group 1 C.F. Orr Stakes, and reported the horse would be better for the run after finishing fourth, after looming up in the straight.
“You can see in his last 100 he was swapping legs every stride, he was really feeling the pinch,” Kah said.
“I think he had a fair bit of condition on him so that will tighten him up a lot.
“He had a big sweat so looking forward to his next start.”
Moody suggested that punters could do a lot worse than vote for Pounding to get a run in the $5million All-Star Mile to be run at Moonee Valley on Saturday, 18 March.
“All-Star Mile? Is that being run on a dry track this year? He’s in the noms,” Moody said.
“Punters, he might be one to vote for, hey?”
