Munce’s nostalgic return to Caulfield
GRAND Slam-winning jockey Chris Munce made his name in the Victorian spring, now he’s looking to leave his mark on the famous carnival as a trainer on a day he holds close to his heart.
Munce will saddle up Palaisipan in the Group 2 Tristarc Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield, 45 minutes before the Group 1 Caulfield Cup is run and won, 12 years after he teamed up with Gai Waterhouse to win the feature on Descarado.
While his days in the saddle are long gone, Munce says there are some similarities heading into the meeting this time around, with wild weather expected to batter Melbourne over the coming days.
“I remember going into that Caulfield
Cup, there was all this talk about the meeting being moved to the Sunday, that’s how heavy it was,” Munce said.
“As it turned out, we ran on the Saturday and ended up winning it.
“This mare will be my first runner down there as a trainer, it’s good because you always have great memories of these big carnivals.
“You love riding in all those big carnivals, only the other day I was looking at a photo from when I won the (Caulfield) Guineas on Econsul (2004) at 100-1, I remember that day so well.
Munce has ventured to Sydney with the Group 1-placed mare, but says he has never had a horse good enough to take all the way to Victoria until now.
He has an air of confidence in Palaisipan after Craig Williams rode her in a piece of work at Caulfield on Tuesday.
“Tim Clark will ride her on Saturday, but we were happy with that on Tuesday,” he said.
Palaisipan is rated a $5.50 joint favourite following her run in the Golden Pendant.