Montefilia wins the Hill Stakes

Posted by RS NewsWire at 5:59pm on October 7th

Nash Rawiller’s belated emergence from the jockeys’ room was just the sign the Chris Waller stable needed to know he was ready to produce a riding masterclass on Montefilia in the Hill Stakes.

Rawiller didn’t disappoint, settling the six-year-old worse than midfield before picking a passage through in the straight and bringing her with a barnstorming run down the outside to score her first win for new owners Yulong.

Representing winning trainer Chris Waller, racing manager Charlie Duckworth said they hadn’t made any significant changes to Montefilia’s training and credited Rawiller with doing his homework and executing to perfection on the high-class mare.

“Nash is the master of getting the best out of horses, it’s as simple as that,” Duckworth said.

“He was last out of the room, so I knew he was plotting and planning. He came out and did what he said he was going to do and the rest is history.”

Duckworth did admit to some anxiety early in the race when Rawiller didn’t quite follow his instructions.

“We told him to be one-off (the fence) throughout the whole race and he went straight to the fence so I was a little bit nervous then about what Chris was going to be saying, ‘did you give Nash the right instructions here?'” Duckworth said.

“When you’re on a horse of her calibre, it’s easier to ride with that added confidence.

“On her day she is clearly the best horse in the race and he came up with a mentality saying there’s juice in the ground, she’s got a soft gate, she’s getting deeper into her preparation so she’s rock-hard fit, I’m just going to trust Chris in having her right and trust the horse being good enough and that was the case.”

A multiple Group 1 winner for David Payne, Montefilia was purchased for $3.4 million by Yulong earlier this year and transferred to Waller.

Duckworth said it was a difficult situation to take over a star horse from a rival stable, but he was also happy to see Yulong recoup some of their investment.

“Every Group One horse is so special to each individual trainer and it’s like taking their daughter or son of them and saying, ‘I’m going to have a crack at training it now’,” Duckworth said.

“I do feel for David. The ownership group chose to sell and Yulong were very vigilant with the vetting process and believed she could race on.

“Obviously they’ve put their hands in their pockets really deep for multiple years now in buying these high-priced mares but that’s the beauty of racing in today’s age. You’re racing for $2 million here and she wins back a massive portion of what they spent on her and they’ve still got her as a broodmare.”

Rawiller said he was always confident he was going to find a passage through on Montefilia despite her being behind a wall of horses on straightening and felt she won with something in hand.

“If there was another 100 metres, she wins by three-and-a-half or four (lengths). She was motoring that last 100 metres,” Rawiller said.

Montefilia’s ($3.40 Dabble fav) official winning margin was half-length over Hoo Ya Mal ($4.80) with Protagonist ($6.50) another neck away

More Racing News

Vein Girl impresses in rich Magic Millions The Debut win

Vein Girl has put herself in contention for next month’s $3 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic with a strong win on debut under lights at the Gold Coast’s first night meeting. The Chris and Corey Munce-trained Vein Girl was sent out the $3.50 favourite with betting sites in Friday night’s $250,000...

Dec 21st

Pallaton races into 2025 Golden Slipper contention

Pallaton has stamped himself as a two-year-old colt to watch heading into 2025 with an impressive debut win at Randwick. Trained by Michael Freedman and ridden by Tommy Berry, Pallaton raced to a 2-3/4-length victory in Saturday’s Shinzo @ Coolmore Plate (1000m) and firmed to be among the early favourites in Golden Slipper...

Dec 21st

Arriving Home set to target the Magic Millions Guineas 2025

Trainer Bjorn Baker would love to get lightly raced filly Arriving Home into the Magic Millions Guineas next month after the three-year-old remained unbeaten with a tough win at Randwick. Stepping up from a midweek city maiden win at Warwick Farm on debut earlier this month into Saturday’s Petaluma Handicap (1300m) – a...

Dec 21st

The Kings horse Gilded Water wins at Randwick

Imported stayer Gilded Water has made it back-to-back victories in Australia and has given his owner, His Majesty King Charles III, a winner at Royal Randwick. The King’s racing manager John Warren was on track at Randwick on Saturday as the Ciaron Maher-trained Gilded Water raced to a convincing victory in the...

Dec 21st

Goldman digs deep in the Pakenham Cup 2024

One time Melbourne Cup favourite, Goldman has notched up his fourth win in Australia, leading throughout to take the Listed Pakenham Cup (2500m) under Beau Mertens. Jumping an $8.50 chance, Goldman’s staying prowess was on show as he kicked back to deny Grand Pierro ($19) by a long head, with $3.30 betting site...

Dec 21st

Here To Shock gives Lindsay Park quinella in The Supernova

Ben, Will & Jd Hayes had the numbers two and three seed to knock off race-favourite Nadal in Saturday’s $1 million The Supernova (1400m) at Pakenham and did just that, with Here To Shock, ridden by Daniel Stackhouse, edging stablemate Arkansaw Kid in a thrilling stable quinella. Here To Shock ($4.60) trailed a strong...

Dec 21st

Kevin Daffy happy to wait with Oh Too Good ahead of VOBIS Gold Bullion

Trainer Kevin Daffy says there is still plenty of time to chase the big league with his lightly-raced mare Oh Too Good. A winner of four of her seven starts with three runner-up finishes as well, Oh Too Hard runs in the VOBIS Gold Bullion (1400m) at Pakenham on Saturday. Daffy was sounded...

Dec 20th

Bedggood chases rich The Supernova prize

Two rising nine-year-olds, both resuming, will give Gavin Bedggood a potential shot at his biggest payday as a trainer. A former jockey, Bedggood has been plying his trade as a trainer since 2017 and during the recent Melbourne Spring Carnival prepared Mornington Glory to land his first Group 1 success. Just Folk and Windstorm, both...

Dec 20th

Collett hoping for Dream Brisbane raid in BJ McLachlan Stakes and Magic Millions Falvelon

A pair of promising two-year-olds from the Ciaron Maher stable have lured top Sydney hoop Jason Collett to Queensland for back-to-back meetings this weekend. Collett is heading north to partner filly Life After Love in the $250,000 Magic Millions The Debut (1000m) at the Gold Coast on Friday night and her Maher-trained stablemate...

Dec 20th

Theodore aims to keep strike-rate going in Christmas Cup at Murray Bridge

Trainer Stephen Theodore is looking to Divine Fire keeping his impressive strike-rate going when she shoots for a winning hat-trick on Saturday. After victories at Morphettville and Gawler, Divine Fire runs in the Christmas Cup (1600m) at Murray Bridge with Jacob Opperman in the saddle. Since returning to training ranks at the start of...

Dec 20th