I Wish I Win is back on track ahead of a light autumn campaign

The 2023 T.J.Smith winner

The 2023 T.J. Smith last autumn is the highlight of I Wish I Win's career so far. He had run well in the Lightning Stakes and the Newmarket before that breakthrough win at Group 1 level, which came on Heavy 9 going. 

A test of stamina over 1200m suits him well, as he can maintain his speed for longer than many speedballs can, and those conditions would suit him again this autumn. How many times we will see him, however, is up in the air, but it might only be twice, like in the spring, the T.J. Smith and then the Doomben 10,000 on May 18.

The Everest was so close yet so far

The career earnings of I Wish I Win broke through the $10 million barrier when he was a close second to Think About It at Randwick last October. He went there off the back of a single start in the Memsie, and that looks like the plan again in 2024, to keep the horse as fresh as possible ahead of his big target. 

That puts a lot of pressure on Moody and what he does with the horse at home, but it was a case of so close yet so far in 2023, and he will want to leave nothing out on the track in the run-up to the race to cost the horse a chance at winning it this time.

Autumn campaign is light again before the spring

Straight after his runner-up effort in The Everest, Peter Moody said that was it for his spring campaign. The plan had been to have him back earlier than this in the autumn, but I Wish I Win has been given plenty of time off to get ready for his biggest target in this prep, trying to go back to back in the T.J. Smith.

The 2023 T.J.Smith winner

The 2023 T.J. Smith last autumn is the highlight of I Wish I Win's career so far. He had run well in the Lightning Stakes and the Newmarket before that breakthrough win at Group 1 level, which came on Heavy 9 going. 

A test of stamina over 1200m suits him well, as he can maintain his speed for longer than many speedballs can, and those conditions would suit him again this autumn. How many times we will see him, however, is up in the air, but it might only be twice, like in the spring, the T.J. Smith and then the Doomben 10,000 on May 18.

The Everest was so close yet so far

The career earnings of I Wish I Win broke through the $10 million barrier when he was a close second to Think About It at Randwick last October. He went there off the back of a single start in the Memsie, and that looks like the plan again in 2024, to keep the horse as fresh as possible ahead of his big target. 

That puts a lot of pressure on Moody and what he does with the horse at home, but it was a case of so close yet so far in 2023, and he will want to leave nothing out on the track in the run-up to the race to cost the horse a chance at winning it this time.

Autumn campaign is light again before the spring

Moody wants to keep things light for I Wish I Win this prep and probably again in the spring as he looks for longevity from his sprinting star. Given the well-documented problems that the horse had in his younger days, it should not be surprising that Moody wants to keep his star in the best shape for as long as he can.

He has already missed the 2024 Lightning Stakes, and the Newmarket is this weekend, so he will not race there this prep, either. The question remains whether I Wish I Win will have to go straight to the T.J. Smith this season without having had a race to sharpen him up. There is still the William Reid at the end of March, but Moody has ruled that out with the time to the T.J. Smith too close.