Parkes trainer Ricky Hunt is hoping Mossdale Bill can send him off a winner at Cowra on Sunday as the talented harness racing horseman is set to move to Sydney. Hunt has previously worked for trainers Shane Tritton and Michael Formosa in the Hunter Valley but will make a leap to life in Sydney as he takes up a role with the Rickie Alchin stable.
Hunt has been back in Parkes for the past seven months and while he hasn't had a lot of runners in that time, he has been working up a lot of horses for other trainers in the area. It will be a big change for Hunt as he freely admits he hasn't worked with young horses a lot in the past, something that Alchin excels in.
"I am looking forward to the move, it is definitely going to be something different for me because working for Shane and Mick I have worked mostly with horses already at the races," Hunt said.
"Rickie breaks in a lot of young horses and I'm looking forward to learning that side of things, he also has some young trotters and I haven't worked a lot with trotters either so it will be a good learning experience."
Hunt is hoping Mossdale Bill can give him the best farewell present on Sunday afternoon when the six year old gelding lines up in the feature event, the Jack Honan Memorial.
"He has drawn barrier six which is going to make things tough and it means I will have to go back and hope for some luck but I was really happy with his run last start.
"He was a very handy three year old but he got very sick and he lost all form for the best part of two years, he is just starting to show something again so if they go hard on Sunday he should be hitting the line well."
Mossdale Bill last won a race in September 2014 when he proved too strong in a C0/C1 event when driven by Jack Trainor.
"I thought he was going to be a pretty handy horse so it was disappointing when he got so sick and lost all form.
"I'm not sure whether I will take him to Sydney with me or not, it will probably depend a lot on how he performs at Cowra because the competition in Sydney is pretty tough."
Greg Hayes