In Brief
- Tasmanian-born rider Luke Currie snares ride on Mystic Journey.
- Mystic Journey heads to the Stocks Stakes in good order says trainer.
- $1 million Group 1 Empire Rose (1600m) is Mystic Journey's main target.
Tasmanian-born jockey Luke Currie is Mystic Journey’s new race rider.
The Tasmanian mare continues her journey on Friday night at Moonee Valley where the five-year-old will tackle the Group 2 Stocks Stakes over 1600 metres.
Her main mission is the Group 1 $1 million Empire Rose at Flemington on 31 October and that will be locked in if she emerges triumphant on Friday night.
Mystic Journey has had two starts this campaign with a first-up eighth in the P. B. Lawrence Stakes on 15 Augus and last start she finished well down the track for a 10th of 13 in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes won by Bohemoth.
Billy Egan partnered the star Tasmanian mare at both of her starts this time in.
Trinder said Currie was his and owner Wayne Roser’s first choice but Curie was injured when the mare started her 2020-21 campaign.
“I’m thrilled to be riding Mystic Journey on Friday night and I’m sure if she is right, then the mare is going to be hard to beat,” Currie said.
Currie said the five months away from racing while he recovered from the damage caused to his C5-C6 vertebrae as result of a race fall in February, could not have come at a worse time.
“I was riding at the top of my game when the fall happened and since the operation to fuse and replace a disc, I’ve been working very hard on my fitness, which has been hampered because of the COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria,” Currie said.
“I’ve been doing a lot of bike riding indoors and running to get myself fit and I’m in very good shape now that I’ve been back riding for a month.”
Mystic Journey returned to Tasmania after the Memsie flop and Trinder says the mare had lightened off while in Melbourne.
“She was a little bit light when she got back home but maybe that was due to the stress from being away from home, so we’ve built her up again and the external signs are all good,” Trinder said.
“She worked really well last Saturday morning, so now we just want to see her run well on Friday night so we can push forward to the Empire Rose.”