Thrills and Nash: I’ve got no regrets
CHAMPION jockey Nash Rawiller said he would reproduce his daring ride on Kementari if there were similar circumstances in the future, despite the sting in the tail of copping a heavy suspension from stewards.
Rawiller returns from a lengthy suspension to ride the popular Godolphin galloper they call ‘Special K’ as a $9 chance in Saturday’s Group 1 Doomben 10,000.
The last time he rode, he partnered Kementari to a spectacular win in the Hall Mark Stakes at Randwick on April 16, going where angels fear to tread as Kementari found a way through by scraping and bending the inside running rail.
Stewards whacked Rawiller with a careless riding ban for his effort, which many viewed as brave and courageous, despite being criticised in some circles.
Rawiller told News Corp he would retire if he didn’t have the guts to take a similar run in the future.
He said it was made to look more messy by circumstances outside his control.
“In the same position, in the same circumstances and on a horse travelling like it was, I would do it again,” Rawiller said.
“With 30 years of experience, the day I wouldn’t do what I did I would give it away.
“Any criticism afterwards was water off a duck’s back to me.
“The fence was worth a lot to me that day, it was a huge advantage.
“I was happy to sit there until the 200m and wait as long as I could, I don’t think I win if I went to the outside on that day. As I got there the horse outside me shifted in, which obviously made it very messy, but had he not shifted we would have slid through without any problem at all. But that’s life.”
The 47-year-old Rawiller (pictured) had a stellar Sydney autumn carnival and produced one of the all-time great rides when steering a daring path right down the outside to win the Queen Elizabeth Stakes on roughie Think It Over on a bog Randwick track.
It was a ride that will go down in folklore but Rawiller said it was not pre-planned.
“I reckon it would go down as one of the highlights of my career,” Rawiller said. “When you put your arse on the line and it comes off, it’s always a big thrill, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a midweek race or one of Sydney’s biggest races.
“It was complete spur of the moment. I felt it would be better out there, but there was also a thought that better ground would be too far to get out to and you had to go through a fair bit of ordinary ground to get to it.
“Had I been able to get back to three or four off the fence in the straight, I would have stayed there for sure.
“But when I got pushed that bit wider, I just felt I needed to get to another bit of the track.
“It was just exhilaration and excitement when I crossed the line.”
Rawiller is hoping for a winning return to the saddle on Kementari and his other five rides on Doomben 10,000 day.
His only small question mark on Kementari is that he feels the sprinter may have been better at Doomben rather than having the races transferred to Eagle Farm.
“Maybe Doomben could possibly have been more suited to him,” Rawiller said.
“Doomben when it’s wet, it still rides well and horses get plenty of footing in it and they gain confidence in the run.
“The (Doomben track) was quite wet that day when he won The Buffering during the summer carnival.
“Eagle Farm is maybe a bit more of an unknown for him.”