By Chris Roots
Trainer Peter Gelagotis has been monitoring the Sydney weather and once he knew Moss 'N' Dale would get his preferred soft ground there was no doubt he would be at Rosehill on Saturday.
Moss 'N' Dale has already made one successful trip to Randwick in April, dead-heating for victory with Roaring To Win over 1400 metres. So the trip north holds no fears.
Going for home: Moss 'N' Dale gives a kick at Randwick in April.Credit: bradleyphotos.com.au
The Gelagotis brothers run their racing operation out of Moe and always want to make sure they get the right conditions for Moss 'N' Dale, who runs in the 1500-metre benchmark 85.
He has had eight of his 14 starts on wet tracks and has built a good record by winning half his starts.
"He is just one of those horses that is going to go through his grades really well because we find the right races," racing manager Manny Gelagotis said. "We know he handles soft and heavy conditions, so we try to pick our targets."
"When we saw the rain up there and knew there was a suitable race, we started to make plans.
"We have three or four wet trackers in our stable and we just can't get a wet track for them in Victoria. If we are going to get a wet track down here it gets transferred to the synthetic.
"We love coming to Sydney because the quality of the racing, the professionalism and the prizemoney up there.
"When you look at it and think you can get an extra $20,000 it makes it an easy decision to get in a truck.
"He is a good traveller and has been there before and most importantly he gets the track he likes."
Moss 'N' Dale has been to Warrnambool and won during its carnival on a heavy track and then was beaten in the Echuca Cup by Tshahitsi.
"I have to say we were very disappointed when he got beaten at Echuca because he was going great," Gelagotis said. "But you look at what the winner came out and did in town last Saturday, it won by four lengths, we ran into a pretty good horse.
"Our bloke has come on since that last run and he will make his own luck. He had a good gallop at Moe on Tuesday, Sydney way, and we come up confident."
Gelagotis has again booked three-kilogram claimer Jack Martin, who was in the saddle for Moss 'N' Dale's last win in Sydney.
"We decided to claim with him because he is up in the weights and Jack has won both his rides on the horse," Gelagotis said.
Stayer Signposted also gets up to a trip in the same race and his trainer John Thompson will use the race as part of a Grafton Cup preparation.
"That is one race we are looking at with him," Thompson said. "He needs to get up to this sort of trip for him to show his best and after two runs he is ready to run a big race.
"Once we got to this sort of trip last winter he put a string of wins together and I think he is up to doing that again."
Thompson also has Invincible Knight in the last race on the program and will look to make up for a luckless fourth at Rosehill first-up.
"He is going really well and really should have won first-up. He just never got a run until the 100 metres and the race was over by then," Thompson said.
"He has a good turn of foot and hopefully he gets a chance to show that on Saturday."
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