Brendan Ward hopes he has pulled the right rein selecting Coliseo as his mount in Monday’s Moruya Cup (1930m).
The 38-year-old Canberra based rider was in the enviable position of having two other offers on leading chances Angelos Lucky Boy and Micalong.
“It was one of those tough calls you sometimes have to make in racing,” Ward said.
“Basically I’ve been involved with all three horses.
“In the end I plumped for Coliseo.
“I’ve always liked the horse. His strong last start win at Kembla in what was a metropolitan meeting swayed me.
“They say jockeys are the worst judges. Hopefully I’ve made the right call.”
Formerly from Wodonga before moving to Canberra two years ago, Ward said he’d been in a similar position previously in his career.
“When you are riding a few winners sometimes these sorts of things come up,” he said. “Mostly its worked in my favour before.
“It’s funny. I was only having a laugh with Grant Buckley the other day about the situation. He reckons it’s mostly the one you knock back gets up and beats you.
“If that happened to be the case tomorrow I’d be the first to congratulate Grant and be happy for the connections too.”
Buckley partners the Gratz Vella-trained Angelos Lucky Boy who Ward has ridden at its past three starts for two wins, with Willie Pearson booked for Micalong, trained by Mick Miladinovic.
Ward has never won the Moruya feature but considers the lightly raced Norm Gardner-trained five-year-old a great chance.
“I was aboard Not Just A Pretty Face for Matthew Dale in the 2000 metres Kembla race Coliseo won last start (January 11),” Ward said.
“Coliseo was actually behind me. When he got out he let down really well and sprinted right away off a fast tempo in a race with plenty of depth.
“The win was very strong. He’s a progressive type.
“Coliseo’s pattern is to get back early in his races. You can’t ride him too close.
“That doesn’t faze me. I know he’ll hit the line strongly.”
AAP TURF