JOCKEY Daniel Moor celebrated his 37th birthday on Saturday with his first Australian Group 1 win, piloting the Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young-trained Sierra Sue to victory in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes over seven furlongs at Caulfield.

The Darci Brahma mare had been ridden by Johnny Allen in her past three starts which included wins in the Midura Cup and the Group 2 Lawrence Stakes but, with 52.5kg in the Group 1 handicap, Moor made the most of his opportunity.

“It’s just a life’s work, you know?” said Moor who completed his apprenticeship in Melbourne and spent two years riding in Singapore. “I won a Group 1 in Mauritius and it’s pretty easy to forget about those ones. It’s been a life’s work here.

“You watch people win good races and they get emotional and you think ‘bloody hell they’re softies’ but it hit me a bit there. She dug in deep for me, I’m just so proud of the mare.”

In a tight finish Sierra Sue won by a nose from the French-bred Showcasing gelding Dice Roll with the Shocking gelding I’m Thunderstruck a half-length third.

New Zealand roots

Sierra Sue found her way to the Busuttin and Young stable thanks to Te Aroha trainer Peter Lock spending NZ$2,000 on a broken-in two-year-old at New Zealand Bloodstock’s 2019 May Sale.

“I saw her at Karaka and I love Darci Brahmas,” said Lock. “I walked her up and down and I was just a bit concerned that she was two years old and broken-in. She was a massive, big, scopey filly, and I thought she was never going to make a two-year-old so I took a punt on her.”

A quality trial and a subsequent offer saw Lock sell his interest in Sierra Sue to clients of Busuttin and Young, highlighting how trading horses is a major component of running a viable stable in New Zealand.

“The biggest disappointment is having to sell a horse like that to survive, but such is life, you have just got to move on and hopefully find another one,” said a philosophical Lock.