Matt Caserta talks about his late brother Chris Caserta and why he’ll be cheering for Far Too Easy in The Kosciuszko

Late jockey Chris Caserta rode The Kosciuszko contender Far Too Easy in its first two wins and his twin brother Matt has opened up on how special it would be if the horse won the $2m race on Saturday.

When most Aussies enter a racehorse into their Blackbook, they have dollar signs in their eyes as they ponder a punting windfall.

But when Matt Caserta gets a Blackbook notification that Far Too Easy is about to race, special memories of his adored twin brother Chris come flooding back.

Far Too Easy, a well-fancied contender in Saturday’s $2m The Kosciuszko on Everest day at Randwick, has a unique place in the heart of Melbourne carpenter Matt.

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Matt was there when the horse bolted in at its first start at Grafton in June 2021, driving his much-loved jockey brother Chris to the races and cheering from trackside.

He remembers fondly how his brother, who tragically drowned during a fateful Surfers Paradise swim later that year, thought the world of David McColm’s horse.

Matt Caserta (left) and his late twin brother Chris.

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“I went and watched Chris ride the horse the first time and when we were driving back after the race, Chris said he had this gut feeling it was going to go on to much bigger and better things,” Matt Caserta told Racenet.

“It wasn’t an ‘if’ or a ‘maybe’, Chris was deadset definite about it.

“I have this horse Blackbooked in my phone, so I get a notification every time it races.

“And that’s purely because of what Chris told me that day.

“I’m not as much into the racing scene as I used to be when Chris was around, but I always do watch this horse race.

“I will 100 per cent watch The Kosciuszko on Saturday and I’ll be cheering this horse for Chris.”

Chris Caserta riding Far Too Easy in his debut win at Grafton in June 2021. Picture: Grant Peters/Trackside Photography

For Matt Caserta, the unspeakable tragedy in late 2021 was also mixed with incredible joy.

Two days before twin brother Chris passed away, Matt Caserta became a father for the first time.

Leonardo Matteo Christopher Caserta came into the world, but the joy of a newborn was soon spliced with terrible tragedy.

“Two days before Chris passed, my firstborn was born,” Matt said.

“That was a pretty hectic time, trying to be happy and joyous about the birth of my first kid but then Chris passed away.

“Everything that happened with Chris and trying to juggle my emotions with a newborn and the timing of it is a blur.

“Chris never got to meet my son and we have since had a daughter (Sofia) who he never got to meet either.

“So for him to never get the chance to meet my son and my daughter, it still breaks me a bit today.

“Chris and I did taekwondo and martial arts together and we used to teach classes with kids.

“The kids always loved Chris and he always loved them.”

Caserta celebrating Far Too Easy's first win with trainer David McColm. Picture: Grant Peters/Trackside Photography

Before his young life was cut short at age 26, Chris Caserta was a pint-sized jockey who rode 154 winners.

The Casertas weren’t a racing family before Chris, a talented martial arts fighter, was recruited into the riding ranks.

Chris Caserta had moved from Victoria to Queensland to get more opportunities as a jockey and Matt is certain if his brother was alive today, he would have achieved great things.

“Chris came from a non horse racing background and it gave him more motivation and more drive to get to the top,” Matt said.

Matt Caserta (top) and his late twin brother, jockey Chris Caserta, as kids doing martial arts. Picture: Supplied by Matt Caserta

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“Moving to the Gold Coast, he really settled himself down and he got his mind in the right head space.

“We used to watch his races replays all the time and I really cherished doing that.

“My birthday doesn’t really feel like a birthday anymore.

“I have had two birthdays since Chris passed and it’s obviously not the same anymore.”

After Caserta rode Far Too Easy to its first two Grafton wins, he told his manager at the time Garry Legg that the young horse was so good it could even win a Group 1 Newmarket Handicap in Melbourne.

Caserta told anyone who would listen how talented the horse was.

His words have turned out to be prophetic.

Matt Caserta and his young son Leonardo Christopher Caserta. Picture: Supplied by Matt Caserta

Far Too Easy has won more than $1.3m in a career which has been interrupted by deadly floodwaters raging through his Murwillumbah stables and some serious medical issues.

Racenet reported last month that Far Too Easy had been so sick with colitis earlier this year that his tearful trainer McColm hugged his favourite horse and said a final goodbye.

The now six-year-old gelding made an incredible return to racing at Eagle Farm last month and trainer McColm is convinced he has got him on song to score the rich Kosciuszko prize.

After finishing third and second in the last two runnings of The Kosciuszko, it really would be a racing fairytale if Far Too Easy could score on Saturday.

And there won’t be a dry eye in the Caserta house.

Originally published as Matt Caserta talks about his late brother Chris Caserta and why he’ll be cheering for Far Too Easy in The Kosciuszko