SWAN Hill jockey Harry Coffey should have business slogan down the side of his car – Have Horse, Will Travel.
On Monday last week he was winning a race at Mildura.
On Wednesday he was riding a swag of trials at Murtoa.
Friday he turned up at Cranbourne for the night races.
Saturday it was off to Tullamarine and a flight to Sydney for two rides at Rosehill Gardens.
Before racing back to the airport to make sure he was home in time to ride at Seymour on Sunday.
And this afternoon will find him going around at Kilmore.
Whew.
Lot of kilometres, frequent flyer points, tracks, heaps of horses, and it all boiled down to the last of the day on Sunday, when he steered the McEvoy-trained Kentucky Nick to his first win since that Monday in Mildura (although six of his trials at Murtoa he came first).
Hardly the most fancied horse in the field, the 8/1 shot, which was a $100,000 yearling, got away cleanly, found a great spot on the speed behind pacemaker Hoody’s Horse, and as they came around the last bend Coffey swept to the lead.
As soon as they straightened he put the field to the sword, winning by almost four lengths without breaking a sweat.
Travelling like a winner for the whole race, not even being left in front so far out would prove to be a problem in what was a ripping ride.
McEvoy racing manager Rayan Moore said he thought Coffey was “a genius”.
“We thought three wide cover was where we would be but he assessed it fantastically out of the machine,” Moore said.
“It’s a tight run here to the first turn and he was quite wide, but he just let him stride up under his own steam.
“He had a bit of a think in the straight, but Harry reminded him of his obligation and the run through to the line was fantastic.”
Coffey said in the end he had just wanted to ride the horse a little quieter and allow him to be running through the line.
But he quickly realised there wasn’t going to be a lot of early speed.
“And as the day has gone on I thought Seymour hasn’t played the way Seymour usually does and it has been a little harder to make up ground late,” Coffey said.
“So when there wasn’t much speed, and he jumped well and was outside the leader, I took control of that, and he was too good.
“He still doesn’t understand fully how to get low and gallop when the pressure is on, he does everything with ease on the bridle but then when you let him go he gets a bit lost.
“So I must admit I was a bit concerned coming up the long straight here at Seymour by himself, but he was just a little bit classy for them today.”
