Mystic Journey owner Wayne Roser says ‘true believers’ will be rewarded if they stick with mare
Mystic Journey’s owner Wayne Roser says some punters might have deserted his Tasmanian mare but those ‘true believers’ will be rewarded for hanging in there for the Cox Plate.
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Mystic Journey’s owner Wayne Roser cannot understand why some people have deserted his super mare after her two defeats, insisting “the true believers” will be rewarded in Saturday’s Cox Plate.
Roser is confident the mare they call “Betty” can produce another peak performance at the Valley this weekend, saying she has the perfect gate and the ideal lead-up to run the race of her life.
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“As we know, some people jumped off (the bandwagon) very quickly, but you have got to go with the true believers,” Roser told the Herald Sun.
The four-year-old mare, whom trainer Adam Trinder bought for Roser for $11,000, has won $3.5 million, the bulk of it coming from seven successive wins.
She was the early Cox Plate favourite and tightened further when she won the P.B. Lawrence Stakes first-up.
But luckless defeats in the Makybe Diva Stakes and Turnbull Stakes at Flemington saw her lose favouritism to Japanese mare Lys Gracieux.
She now rates as a $6.50 second elect behind Lys Gracieux.
“If she had got out at the right time, she would have won easily (in the Turnbull),” Roser said.
“If you look at the sectionals, she was held up until the 200m, as the stewards said.
“But she still ran her last 600 in 33.3sec.
“She ran the last 200m quicker than Santa Ana Lane and Sunlight in the race before us (1200m Gilgai Stakes).
“She finished off so well and if you look after the race she was well ahead.”
His confidence also comes from the barrier draw — Mystic Journey will jump from five if there are no scratchings — and the form line around his mare from the Turnbull.
“The barrier is perfect for her,” he said.
“The crucial thing was to not be trapped on the rails and to not be going 10 wide at the first turn.
“We wanted her in the middle of the pack and, unlike the Turnbull, hopefully she will be about fifth or sixth where she normally runs.”
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The Caulfield Cup runs of runner-up Vow And Declare and luckless Finche last Saturday have also give him hope, given the pair featured prominently in the Turnbull.
“We are as confident as one can be going into a race like this,” Roser said.
Rosa, a retired Sydney barrister who prosecuted numerous big cases including the Marcus Einfeld trial, now lives in Tasmania and has all of his horses with Trinder.
He wasn’t affected by the social media abuse that his horse and Trinder received after her second to Gatting in the Makybe Diva because he “doesn’t go in for crap like that”.
“Adam loves training horses and he doesn’t go in for that outside crap (either),” he said. “He just loves his horses.”
glenn.mcfarlane@news.com.au
Originally published as Mystic Journey owner Wayne Roser says ‘true believers’ will be rewarded if they stick with mare