Cronulla race horse owners Wes Owsnett and Anthony Rix have reached a rare milestone after their horse Ball of Muscle picked up its third group win from its last four starts.
Ball of Muscle, which is part-owned by Owsnett and Rix, won the Group 2 Keno Schillaci Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday, October 13.
In September, he also won both The Shorts at Royal Randwick, and The Heath at Caulfield – a feat which Owsnett said is almost unheard of.
“It’s been quite a brilliant run,” he said.
“He’s been a champion horse, he’s now eight years of age and he’s running in career best form.”
However the win in the Schillaci Stakes, which Owsnett described as “iconic,” was not without its challenges for Ball of Muscle and jockey Craig Williams.
“He had some obstacles. He was coming out of a wide barrier, ‘out in the carpark’ we call it, and he was running at Caulfield which is the opposite direction to what we run in Sydney,” Owsnett said.
It was the first time since February that Williams has ridden the horse, which is often jockeyed by Glyn Schofield.
Owsnett said Ball of Muscle attracts plenty of attention because he is a horse that likes to lead for the duration of the race.
“One of the things about him is we get him to run the speed, which means he leads from the front, so he’s built up a very large following … the punters love him to death because he runs like that,” he said.
“People love to see a horse out the front and leading all the way. It’s a pretty exhilarating thing.”
The horse will now return to Sydney and could race at Flemington in Melbourne Cup week but trainer Joe Pride has indicated he is keeping his options open and is favouring a trip to Perth for the Winterbottom Stakes.
Owsnett said Ball of Muscle’s schedule for the remainder of the year is not yet to be determined.
“We might go for another couple more races and then put him out for a spell,” he said.
“We’ve got our eye on some very iconic races.”
