Moudre, pictured with former jockey Craig Williams, has been unlucky in big races, according to jockey Kerrin McEvoy.
PUSH ahead to the Melbourne Cup — that’s the advice champion jockey Kerrin McEvoy gave Winslow trainer Ciaron Maher and the owners of Moudre after Saturday’s $2.5 million Caulfield Cup.
McEvoy rode the Woolsthorpe-bred and largely locally-owned Moudre to 14th in the 2400-metre race won by 2011 Melbourne Cup winner Dunaden.
McEvoy told connections after the race the seven-year-old was well in his action but was caught up on the fence during the race.
He believed Moudre had no luck at vital stages in the race.
“You’ve got to ride for luck in the big races,” the 2000 Melbourne Cup-winning jockey said.
“I thought of pulling off the fence a couple of times but I just couldn’t because other horses were on the outside of me.
“In hindisight I might have got on the back of Dunaden and Alcopop.
“Moudre’s run was better than it really looked. We got stopped in our tracks at the 300m mark, which never helped our chances.
“With a bit of luck we would have finished closer.”
McEvoy’s summing up of Moudre’s run gave great heart to Maher and the owners, with Moudre seemingly a certain starter in Australia’s most famous horse race, the $6.2 million Melbourne Cup, which will be run at Flemington on November 6.
Maher said he was very pleased with the run.
“We took on the best stayers in the world and we were satisfied with our effort,” Maher said.
“Kerrin’s words were a great tick of approval of how we are going.
“Moudre has pulled up really well. He ate up on Saturday night and we took him down to Mordialloc for a swim on Sunday morning.
“He’s recovered from the soreness he suffered in his shoulder after his Turnbull Stakes run. I’m sure there is still more improvement in him. He’s had three runs from a break and appears to be going very well.”
The 31-year-old trainer said he was undecided if Moudre would have another race before the Melbourne Cup.
Maher is contemplating entering Moudre in Saturday’s $250,000 Moonee Valley Cup over 2500m or the $250,000 Bendigo Cup over 2400m on October 31.
“I think I’ll enter him for the Moonee Valley Cup and the Bendigo Cup, but I will not make a decision about running in either race until later in the week,” he said.
“We might go down the other path and don’t run him again until the Melbourne Cup.
“We’ve got a few options up our sleeve. We’ll just wait and see how the horse feels.”
