BRAD Rawiller is confident Puissance De Lune can give him his first win in his hometown cup next Wednesday.
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Rawiller will ride the Darren Weir-trained imported stayer in the $250,000 Jayco Bendigo Cup (2400m).
“The Bendigo Cup is certainly a race I want to win,” Rawiller said.
“It’s a super ride for me. He’s a horse who looks like he’ll have a great winning chance.”
Rawiller has struggled in the past to ride horses under 55kg, but he expects to be able to ride Puissance De Lune at 54kg.
“It looks like he’ll get 54kg and I’m safely at 54.5kg at the moment,’’ he said.
“I’ve always struggled to get a ride in the Bendigo Cup because of the weights.
“There’s usually only one or two horses in the mix for me because of the weights.
“So to not only get a ride in the Cup, but to get a ride with a winning chance is great.”
Ironically, Rawiller is suspended until Saturday after his ride on Puissance De Lune at Warrnambool last Thursday.
The grey finished second behind Hornet’s Nest over 2200m.
Puissance De Lune is raced by high-profile businessman Gerry Ryan.
Ryan, the owner of Jayco and a proud Bendigonian, imported Puissance De Lune after it had won one of its three starts in France over 1900m at Bordeaux.
The gelding won first-up over 1700m at Warrnambool on May 3.
He followed that run with a convincing win over 1800m at Sandown before running fourth as an odds-on favourite over 2100m at the same track.
After a three-month spell, the son of Sharmadal resumed with an eye-catching fifth in the Gold Nuggett at Ballarat last month.
He then won comfortably at Mornington before his unlucky second at Warrnambool.
“The way the race was run at Warrnambool didn’t suit him,” Rawiller said. “He looks well suited to the Bendigo Cup.”
Nominations for the Bendigo Cup will be released tomorrow.
