Larry Cassidy sold on Winx after just one ride

LARRY Cassidy’s one ride on Winx was enough for him to declare her a good thing in Saturday’s $3 million Doncaster Mile at Randwick.

LARRY Cassidy’s one ride on Winx was enough for him to declare her a good thing in Saturday’s $3 million Doncaster Mile at Randwick.

Cassidy won the Doncaster twice as a jockey among a host of big race wins over the Randwick mile and he also rode Sunline, the most logical reference point to Winx’s chances on Saturday.

He is now prepared to say publicly what he thought the night of last year’s Sunshine Coast Guineas and name Winx, not Sunline, as the best horse he has ridden.

Larry Cassidy on Sunline after winning the 1999 Doncaster Handicap. Picture: Phil Hillyard

“The field she beat that day (at Caloundra) probably let me down,’’ Cassidy said. “If that field had been up to Group 1 standard I would have had no hesitation in labelling her publicly but off a Sunshine Coast Guineas people would have laughed at me.

“I have never ridden a horse with acceleration like that. They just don’t do it.

“I told Hugh Bowmanthe same thing before the Queensland Oaks and she’s lived up to it every time since.

“Someone asked me the other day who is the best horse I have ridden and I said Winx. They said I was wrong and it had to be Sunline. I said ‘well I’ve ridden both of them and Winx is better’.

“Sunline did things earlier than Winx but I think what Winx has done so far this season has been superior.”

Cassidy thinks the result of Saturday’s Doncaster is a no-brainer.

“She will win again,” he said. “The draw may not be ideal, but she’s so versatile Hugh has the option of going forward or back and she has that turn of foot that wins races so quickly.’’

Cassidy, 45, has not ridden since last June after which he had operations on both knees, before having another setback in January.

He received the all-clear to get off crutches this week and will speak to his surgeon on Monday, hoping to be given the green light to start exercising again in preparation for another return to riding.

“I just need to see if it holds up when I start exercising again,’’ he said. “I would like to say it’s a 90-10 chance of being OK, but my gut feeling is that it’s a 50-50 proposition.

“Three to four weeks back into exercising will tell me. If I get severe bone bruising or stress fractures again, I know it will be all over.’’

Tomorrow’s meeting brings back fond memories for Cassidy. He won Doncasters on Secret Savings (1997) and Sunline (1999) and an AJC Derby on Ivory’s Irish (1995), before finishing second on Saintly in Octagonal’s epic 1996 Derby.

Larry Cassidy onboard Winx on Caloundra Cup Day. Picture: Tara Croser.

CASSIDY’S STEWARD PATH CLEARER

WITH a return to riding anything but a certainty, Larry Cassidy had the first glimpse into a possible future when he represented apprentice Michael Murphy at the first level appeals tribunal recently.

Cassidy has long harboured ambitions to become a steward when he hangs up his saddle and jumped at the chance to represent the young rider after reading the transcript of the initial inquiry.

Cassidy told Murphy and his master Chris Munce that based on the evidence and precedents from other cases, he would beat the charge.

“It hasn’t been much fun just sitting on the sidelines for so long, so it was nice to do something like that and made me feel like I have something to contribute,” Cassidy said.

“If I do go down the path of being a steward, that experience showed I can handle myself in an inquiry situation.”

Munce backed Cassidy to make a success of a stewarding career path if he chose to pursue it.

“When you stop riding your whole world changes and it’s a big thing to deal with, so to have something else to go to is important,” Munce said.

“He seems pretty passionate about it and I’m sure he would be good at it.”

Originally published as Larry Cassidy sold on Winx after just one ride