Winning city races can only further endear jockey Daniel Moor to leading trainer Mick Price.
Moor has enjoyed Price’s support since his days as an apprentice, but has had to wait his turn behind star jockeys Damien Oliver, Glen Boss and Craig Newitt.
Moor knows not riding work regularly for Price harms his chances of working for the Caulfield trainer on race day.
However, he enhanced his prospects of more Price-trained mounts when rode two-year-old Pressing home to win Saturday’s Mindy Green Plate (1200m) at Caulfield.
“I rode a stack of winners for Mick as an apprentice and I get along really well with him,” Moor said.
“The way his horses race really suits my style and he’s supported me where he can, but he’s got his list of jockeys.”
Pressing began moderately, which left Moor with work to do to keep him in touch with the leaders in the first half of the race.
Moor kept the Sebring colt to the inside rounding the home turn before Pressing ($12) charged home to beat the $3.70 favourite Petrology by a neck.
Moor and Price’s stable foreman Mick Nolan thought Pressing would work home into a minor placing early in the straight, but the youngster surprised the pair with the speed of his finish.
“I thought at the 250(m) that it would be a good run without winning, but he really found the line well,” Nolan said.
“But the further he went, the better he went.”
Nolan said Price would assess Pressing’s recovery from his debut before deciding on his next run.
Petrology’s jockey Jake Noonan said his mount “floated” when he reached the lead at the 200 metres but added the David Hayes-trained colt would benefit from the experience.
Armada ($4.40) finished 2-1/4 lengths from the winner in third, while Selvatico disappointed those that backed him from $12 into $7.50 on track when he finished ninth.
Selvatico’s jockey Darren Gauci said the two-year-old failed to handle the slow track.
