After escaping injury in a barrier mishap at Canterbury, Blake Shinn has put his abundant talent on show at Moonee Valley with a quartet of winners.
Shinn had to forgo rides in later races at Canterbury on Friday night but he wasn’t going to miss being involved in Saturday’s Cox Plate meeting.
After earlier wins on Blondie, Lubiton and Who Shot Thebarman, Shinn guided Lucky Hussler to victory in the Group Two Crystal Mile.
Enjoying a fast run race, Lucky Hussler ($9) scored a three-length win from Religify ($5) with the favourite It’s Somewhat ($4.40) a length away third.
“Riding four winners on any major day in racing is special,” Shinn said.
“I thought I had a reasonable book of rides but it’s very hard at this time of year.
“You’ve got the elite horses, the elite jockeys but it’s one of those days where everything has fallen into place.”
Despite Lucky Hussler’s form looking below par on paper, Shinn said trainer Darren Weir was bullish about the gelding’s chances pre-race.
“He had been running well without too much luck and I just wanted to give him a good ride and hopefully the horse would do the rest,” Shinn said.
Lucky Hussler is trained at Weir’s Warrnambool base and the leading trainer was expecting a good showing at his fourth run of the campaign.
“He ran well first-up, terrible second-up, well third-up and even better fourth-up,” Weir said.
“He loves Moonee Valley, the speed on and I thought he looked great in the yard.”
