By Craig Kerry
Nash Rawiller holds no fears about the outside draw for defending The Hunter champion Coal Crusher as the top jockey eyes another day out at Newcastle on Saturday.
Rawiller put on a riding masterclass two months ago, scoring a group 3 double with Here To Shock (Cameron Handicap) and Terra Mater (Tibbie Stakes) on Newcastle Cup day, and he heads back with genuine hopes across the three stakes races.
Nash Rawiller winning the 2022 edition of The Hunter on Vilana.Credit: Getty Images
He has picked up the ride on Joe Pride-trained Coal Crusher, which led from gate one under Tyler Schiller last year and ran the field off their feet in a track record time.
This year, the seven-year-old has the widest draw in the group 2 field, which was down to 13, and a tough last-start run in the Russell Balding Stakes. Under Chad Schofield, he tailed off after going a blistering pace early when eyeballed out in front by I Am Me.
“I think you can put a bit of a line through that,” said Rawiller, who won The Hunter with Sweet Deal (2020) and Vilana (2022).
“He’s a real bowling-along, control type of horse, and he’s run track records doing that, but when you’ve got something sitting outside him, it’s an impossibility.
“I’m not at all deterred by the outside gate. He’s just one of those horses where you just aim up for the inside running rail at the point of the bend and by the time you’ve got there, he’s two in front.
“It doesn’t concern me too much. I think he’s a good ride in the race, and he’s been knocking on the door all prep and has run some terrific races.”
Rawiller also has Kiwi stayer Dionysus ($9.50) in the listed Beauford (2300m) and well-backed John Sargent-trained gelding French Ruler in the group 3 Spring Stakes (1600m).
Dionysus, a two-time group 3 winner in New Zealand, debuts in Australia.
“He’s obviously building up to that sort of trip,” he said.
“He’s run over two miles before so he knows how to stay. He looks well-placed in a race like that.”
French Ruler, which opened as a $26 chance on Wednesday and was into $10, won his only start at Newcastle and was placed in town at his other two runs.
