Internationally acclaimed jockey Joao Moreira says there is no horse he would rather be riding in the $10 million Golden Eagle than Japanese raider Ascoli Piceno, despite landing one of the widest gates in the bumper field of twenty.
The mare is an easing $4.50 favourite following the draw, where she came up with barrier 17.
However, Moreira and trainer Yoichi Kuroiwa have put a positive spin on her alley, believing the Group 1 winner will appreciate galloping room.
“No doubts about it, any other jockey would like to be her jockey in this,” Moreira said after riding the filly in her final serious gallop at Canterbury on Wednesday.
“She is a good horse, and she gives me the confidence that she is going to be able to deliver her best.
“We’ve just got to do our job, which is try to make it simple, not complicate it, and hopefully everything goes our way.”
In five editions of the Golden Eagle (1500m), only five of the 15 placegetters have jumped from double-figure alleys with I Wish I Win (2022), who came from gate 10, the only winner.
However, Kuroiwa is adamant Ascoli Piceno is better suited drawing wide.
“I think she is the best horse in the field,” Kuroiwa said through a Japanese interpreter.
“I’m really confident. I didn’t really want to have an inside barrier, otherwise she could have got stuck behind horses. I think it’s better, an outside barrier, rather than inside.”
Moreira, who has been a regular visitor to Australia and enjoyed success in some of the country’s biggest races, will have his first race ride on Ascoli Piceno at Rosehill on Saturday.
However, having felt firsthand her improvement since galloping her last week and again on Wednesday when he was instructed by Kuroiwa to “wake her up”, the hoop sensed she was peaking at the right time.
“Last week, I’d say she was not one hundred per cent yet, she was still rebuilding because she had to travel, do the quarantine,” Moreira said.
“I could feel she was on the way up. Today, she is where we want her to be and that is definitely getting us to the races extremely happy with how she is going.”
Ascoli Piceno was one of four international raiders to work at Canterbury on Wednesday on preparation for Saturday’s feature, along with fellow Japanese mare Corazon Beat ($51), unbeaten French gelding Lazzat ($7) and the William Haggas-trained Lake Forest ($21).
All pleased their respective connections with their final hitouts as they bid to become the second overseas-trained horse to win the Golden Eagle after Japan’s Obamburumai last year.