Inside Racing: Injury-free jockey Braidon Small aims high for 2023 season

Small, 31, has recovered from having both knees cleaned out in the off-season and resumes riding in two high-weight races on the flat at Terang on Sunday.

"I'm feeling really well leading into the new jumps season," he said.

"There's been a few jumps seasons where I've had injury clouds hanging over me but at this stage I'm in good shape.

"I've had both my knees cleaned out in early December and done six weeks of rehab work.

"It's probably the best I've been feeling health-wise going into a new season for a few years.

"I've been working out in the gym daily with my brother Daniel since I had my knees cleaned out.

"I'm walking around at 72 kilograms at the moment and want to get my weight down to 68kgs for the season-opener next month."

The father-of-two said he had a burning ambition to ride a Warrnambool Grand Annual Steeplechase winner.

"There's a fair bit of water to go under the bridge regarding rides in the features," he said.

"It's very competitive in the jumps riding ranks. The race I would love to win is the Warrnambool Grand Annual Steeplechase.

"It's the pinnacle race on the Australian jumps calendar and all the jockeys want to win it."

Small's biggest jumps race win was on Two Hats in the 2018 Galleywood Hurdle on the middle day of the Warrnambool May Carnival.

PROMISING Warrnambool galloper Miso is having a short break after an unplaced run at Sandown last week.

Miso ran last in the benchmark 70 over 1400 metres.

Trainer Daniel Bowman said the lightly-raced four-year-old pulled up short in his action on the hard ground following the race.

"Miso just felt the hard ground," Bowman said.

"It's always disappointing when those sort of things happen but that's racing and it's got to do with the weather at this stage of the year.

"We think with a bit of time Miso will develop into a nice horse. We're not going to rush him. He shows ability and deserves the break."

From his six starts Miso has won three races and finished in the place-getters stall on two occasions.

He has earned more than $70,000 in stakemoney for his connections.

Meanwhile, Bowman is hoping to be a buyer at the up-coming Inglis Premier Yearling Sale in Melbourne.

"We've got a few owners who have indicated they wish us to purchase a couple of yearlings at the Premier Sale," he said.

"We'll go and have a good look around.

"We've purchased some nice yearlings at the sales previously which have developed into nice horses. It all depends on what sort of money they bring.

"The last few yearling sales have been expensive to make purchases at. I suppose we're like everyone else, we're just hoping the price may drop back a bit."

The Premier Yearling Sale is on from March 5-7.

NEW Zealand-bred galloper Wagon Wheel took over as the early favourite for the $125,000 Summer Stayers Final at Moonee Valley on March 5, following a resounding victory in a heat of the series over 2500 metres at Moonee Valley last Friday night.

Wagon Wheel, ridden by top jockey Jamie Kah, defeated Freedom Escape by more than three lengths to take out last Friday's heat for Warrnambool trainer Aaron Purcell.

Purcell said Wagon Wheel is an untapped galloper.

"There's heaps of upside to Wagon Wheel," he said. "It was a very strong win by Wagon Wheel.

"He's got stayer written all over him. I think with a bit of time he's going to develop into a quality type of horse.

"I don't want to rush him, I just want to take him through his grades. The final of the Summer Stayers Series looks an ideal race for him but we might also put in an entry for the Adelaide Cup.

"The biggest problem with the Adelaide Cup is it's on March 13 which is pretty close time wise to the Summer Stayers Final. We'll just wait and see how things pan out with him after the Summer Stayers Final before finalising plans about an Adelaide Cup run."

Wagon Wheel has won two of his seven starts. The four-year-old won his maiden in New Zealand before joining Purcell's Warrnambool stables.

AN exceptionally rare offering of a mare in foal to freak stallion Extreme Choice highlights a particularly strong catalogue for the Inglis Digital February (Late) Online Sale which also includes a draft of 16 from Godolphin, multiple stakes performers and three shares in exciting three-year-old Benedetta.

Taurasi, offered in foal to Extreme Choice, is a half-sister to stakes winner Untamed.

Also offered by Godolphin is Kanazawa - a three-time winner who finished just behind Think About It and Pizarro at Randwick last week.

The final countdown for bidding begins at noon on Wednesday.

MORE SPORT:

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: