Sport
14 August, 2024
There’s nothing like a winner to reinvigorate your love of racing
Jay Morris is rethinking his future after a recent run of success.
Jay Morris was done with racing three months ago, but after a recent run of victories, the Mount Isa Race Club president says he’ll likely push on in 2025.
“I was very at ease to have a couple of years off,” he said.
“I had told my owners that this was going to be my last year – I’ve got a boat and thought it would be good to spend some time with (wife) Tamara and the boys and do some camping and fishing.”
The decision might have been reversed in recent weeks, though.
Six of his last 10 starters have won, including three from four at last week’s Mailman Express TAB meeting.
“The new stock makes a difference,” said Morris, who has been involved in thoroughbreds for two decades.
“I was probably getting the shits a little bit because we weren’t winning much with the horses we had.
“It would be hard to give up (training) as president of the race club, though.
“You wouldn’t put all the hours in to run the club if you didn’t have horses running.”
Morris opened Thursday’s race program with Le Force, ridden by talented apprentice Chloe Lowe, who took a sit off a hot pace and put paid to her rivals in the straight for a three-length victory.
Sent out a $2.30 favourite, Le Force is owned by the Saunders family and the Class 6 Plate (1450m) victory was the gelding’s sixth since joining the Mount Isa stable in 2022.
“Because he won a maiden down there (Sunshine Coast) he’s always had to carry weight (in the North West),” Morris said.
“We’ve had a few issues with him and he was on nerve supplements for a while but I think we might have him worked out now.
“We don’t change his routine and he gets the pony to lead him around and has pre-race earmuffs.
“He’s probably matured a bit which has helped.”
The second win of the day came in the Benchmark 45 (1450m) as Kelsey Lenton put a gap on her rivals aboard Benevento ($2.40).
It was the four-year-old’s second win since arriving in the region and he looks like a horse with plenty of upside.
“It was a good win and it was good for the owners who came out to see him,” Morris said.
“He should win more races out here based off that, even though it wasn’t the strongest race.”
The third win was with Morris’ newest addition, a former Jared Wehlow-trained galloper called Skylight Song, now owned by Morris with racecaller Andrew Watts and Mount Isa butcher Steve Clauson.
“Wattsy said he always wanted to have one up here and around Christmas he was keen on one but we missed out,” the trainer said.
“We’ve been on the lookout ever since and Jared rang me and said he might have one that would suit racing out here.”
While Skylight Song was a very impressive winner of the Class 1 Handicap (1200m), Morris said the five-year-old gelding was in bad shape a fortnight earlier.
“He had a bad case of the scours (diarrhoea) and went off his feed for a couple of days,” he said.
“His temperature didn’t spike too badly, but he’s normally a big eater so we were worried when he went off his feed.”
However, Skylight Song soon recovered and Morris gave him a jumpout a week before the race, which indicated that he was good to go.
“It was an impressive gallop and we were confident he’d do well based off that,” he said.