Weight loss spurs Maloney
RYAN Maloney’s weight loss to ride elite Queensland filly Isotope in Saturday’s Group 2 Arrowfield Sprint will have another benefit as he keenly chases the Brisbane riding premiership.
The former Victorian hoop is shedding the kilos to ride Tony Gollan’s star filly at 54.5kg in the Arrowfield at Randwick.
Maloney says just about every time he thinks about going to the fridge he instead goes for a walk, run or cycle.
The weight loss regimen is firstly focused on riding Isotope at Randwick on Saturday, with the filly the $4 equal favourite after showing Sydney what she could do when impressively winning the Listed Darby Munro Stakes on March 27.
But that is not all that is at stake, with Maloney sitting just two wins behind Jim Byrne in the hunt for this season’s Brisbane riding premiership.
“I have been thinking if I want to have a red-hot crack at winning the premiership, I’ve got the get down to riding the minimum so I can enhance my chances,” Maloney said.
“Leading into the winter carnival, me riding lighter hopefully also opens up a few more opportunities.
“I’ve always been good on the training side, it’s just that I’ve found myself binge eating sometimes and then next minute I’ve got to pull weight off and it becomes a bit of a yo-yo effect.
“I am finding now that the longer I exercise for, the longer I’m not at home and I can’t go near the fridge, the better.
“I took the dog for a 10km walk on Friday, went for a 35km ride around the hills and have been doing other things like that.
“I will certainly be fit next Saturday.”
Isotope is rated so highly rockhard that tab.com.au has her at $13 for the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap.
However she seems unlikely to contest the Queensland winter carnival, with Gollan leaning towards giving her a break after her Sydney autumn campaign before bringing her back for big spring assignments.
However Gollan has left the door slightly ajar for a winter carnival assault.
“I will leave open until after Gollan said.
“I have ruled nothing in or out at this point in time. that next option weekend,”
“Having said that I am probably mindful that we have raced her in summer and in autumn, it would probably be asking a lot of her to go to winter as well.
“My gut feeling would probably be she won’t race in winter.”
Isotope shares $4 favouritism for the Arrowfield with September Run, with Chris Waller’s Coolmore Stud Stakes-winning filly scratched from last Saturday’s Group 1 TJ Smith to run in the Arrowfield.
Wild Ruler and Rocketing By are other big chances.