Much Much Better set to contest Aurie’s Star Handicap

Wyong trainer Sara Ryan will be racking up the frequent flyer miles in the lead up to having her first starter in Victoria.

Having just completed her first full season as a trainer, Ryan has a runner at Wyong on Thursday, travels on Friday to Coffs Harbour where she has Attractable running in the Coffs Harbour Cup (1600m).

Then on Saturday, Ryan has her first starter in Melbourne when Much Much Better lines up in the Group 3 Aurie’s Star Handicap (1200m) at Flemington.

“I have never raced a horse in Melbourne, so why not start off at Flemington,” Ryan quipped.

“The horse will head down and stay with Gai (Waterhouse) and Adrian (Bott) at Flemington.

“I’ll be flying home from Coffs Harbour on Friday night, ride work on Saturday morning and will then fly down to Melbourne for the race.”

Ryan, who did not have a background in racing after starting out in the equestrian world, has worked for the Domeland operation who race Much Much Better for five years.

She started out managing their horses and doing the pre-training before the opportunity came to take over the training.

“I love working with the horses,” Ryan said.

“That’s my passion but racing gets under your skin, and I don’t think I could step away from it.

“It’s very addictive and nothing quite like it.”

Much Much Better started his career with John O’Shea before Gary Moore took over, and this is the second preparation that Ryan has had the sprinter in her care from the outset.

Ryan said she set her sights on the early spring Group races in the hope of sneaking a rich prize before the better performed horses hit peak form.

Much Much Better has run second at both outings this campaign at Randwick and Rosehill.

“After his two seconds, he’s put his benchmark up to a level where he needs to step up,” Ryan said.

“He’s not quite ready to step into a Spring Carnival, but he’s ready to start catching some of these nice early Group races while those Spring Carnival horses are trying to fit themselves up.

“This is his third run in now, so he should be rock hard fit.”