I Wish I Win's spring jockey yet to be confirmed

Gareth Hall is reporting that connections of I Wish I Win are yet to confirm who will ride the star sprinter this spring.

The Waikato Stud-owned star had the services of both James McDonald and Luke Nolen during the autumn with Nolen riding him to victory last start in the Kingsford Smith Cup.

Nolen has ridden I Wish I Win in nine of his 11 Australian starts but lost the ride to McDonald first-up last campaign in the TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) following injuries incurred from a trackwork fall.

With McDonald unavailable for the ride in the Kingsford Smith Cup due to overseas commitments, Nolen retained the ride and took full advantage with a brilliant steer.

Fast forward two months later and trainers Peter Moody & Katherine Coleman are yet to decide on who will ride I Wish I Win en route to an Everest campaign where he’ll race in the Trackside Media slot.

“I don’t think Luke Nolen is necessarily a lock to ride I Wish I Win this spring as a rider hasn’t been confirmed yet,” Hall told SENTrack.

“Luke Nolen is riding in great form at the moment, there’s different variables that go into play here.

“Obviously there’s Peter Moody and Mark Chittick who own the horse and they’ve done a deal with Entain so it’ll be interesting.

“I think Nolen will be favourite to ride but it depends what type of deal Entain and the connections did.

“It’ll be interesting, I’m surprised it hasn’t been announced yet.”

I Wish I Win is expected to run first-up in the Moir Stakes on September into the Manikato three weeks later with the Everest on October 19 his grand final.