Moody gets his Reward For Effort at Caulfield

VICTORIA'S new premier trainer Peter Moody has prepared the winners of many more lucrative races over the past year, but few have been as satisfying as the narrow win of giant colt Reward For Effort in the listed Monash Stakes (1100 metres) at Caulfield yesterday, reports The Sunday Age.It says: ''It's been heartbreaking the last 12 months watching all the other three-year-olds collect the spoils while this horse was not doing much, so it was great to see him get home,'' Moody said. ''They had t

VICTORIA'S new premier trainer Peter Moody has prepared the winners of many more lucrative races over the past year, but few have been as satisfying as the narrow win of giant colt Reward For Effort in the listed Monash Stakes (1100 metres) at Caulfield yesterday, reports The Sunday Age.

It says: ''It's been heartbreaking the last 12 months watching all the other three-year-olds collect the spoils while this horse was not doing much, so it was great to see him get home,'' Moody said. ''They had their chance [to beat him], but he toughed it out.''

Some 469 days after his last run, Reward For Effort stepped on to the Caulfield track yesterday looking a picture of health. Tall and muscular, the colt may have lacked match practice but he had lost nothing in looks and it took just over a minute to discover he'd lost none of the brilliance that took him to victory in last year's group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes.

Jockey Luke Nolen, soon to be crowned Victoria's champion jockey for the first time, rode Reward For Effort out from the gates and he led the field easily. The colt travelled kindly to the home turn where he kicked strongly before feeling the pinch over the final 100 metres.

On the line, he had only a handful of centimetres up his sleeve over Keano ($11), but he'd done enough.

''I had him as fit as I could get him without racing him, and I was worried that they'd get to him over the last bit, but he wouldn't lay down,'' Moody said.

Reward For Effort injured a suspensory about 12 months ago and a few hiccups over the summer meant his comeback was put back until yesterday. Starting at $3.30, Reward For Effort won by a short head from Keano, with a short half-head to the gallant Royal Ida ($6). Fourth was the fast-finishing Stanzout ($16), with the well-tried Arinos ($4) getting home late for fifth.

Nolen said later that he was delighted with the way the colt travelled. ''He got a bit tired on the line but you'd expect that. I thought it was a terrific return from a very good horse,'' he said.