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By Ray Hickson

A call-up from Bjorn Baker and a desire to continue his association with a Country Championships prospect have enticed last season’s premier NSW jockey Ashley Morgan to Rosehill on Saturday.

Jockey Ashley Morgan (Pic: Bradley Photos).

While many of the leading city riders are interstate this weekend, Morgan said he’s more than happy to take opportunities to showcase himself in Sydney so jumped at the chance to ride three horses for Baker including the promising Cosmic Minerva.

Of his 136 wins in his premiership winning year, Morgan only rode one metropolitan winner - Pandora Blue at Randwick in June - but only two per cent of his rides for the season were in the city.

Nevertheless, that's a number he wants to improve on in 2022/23.

Morgan missed the first few months of this season as he took a holiday back home in Ireland then rode in England and America, at Santa Anita, for a short time before returning to Australia.

“It took me three weeks, maybe a month, to get going again properly but the last month has been really good,” he said.

“I’m glad I did it and it really helps your riding.

“Even though I was only in America a short space of time I feel like I’ve come back and improved a bit from last season."

Four-year-old Cosmic Minerva impressed Morgan with his first-up Gosford win at the end of last month. He's interested to see what he can produce in the Schweppes Handicap (1350m) and was more than happy to follow him to town when Baker offered the ride.

He describes the gelding as very raw but a horse with plenty of talent.

“He’s very relaxed in the run, he feels like he’s a miler in the future,’’ Morgan said.

“He’s definitely a Saturday horse in the making, it’s the right time of year to be having a go because he’s a nice horse.”

The Gosford win was only a Benchmark 64 and he had the advantage of the inside barrier and an economical run.

Morgan said he feels some winkers or blinkers will benefit the gelding in the future and Saturday’s race, where he was $6 with TAB on Thursday, from an awkward draw will be a solid test.

“It was a competitive race, it felt like he had lengths on him he just doesn’t know how to put them away quite yet,’’ he said.

“I think he will be fine without shades but I think he will improve a couple of lengths for having some head gear on.

“His win was really good, he obviously got a nice run but he went to put them away and didn’t quite know how.

“But when John O’Shea’s horse (King Of Naples) challenged I was never going to get beaten, we could have gone around again and he wouldn’t have gone past him.”

Jenny Graham is no stranger to winning a Newhaven Park Country Championships and Morgan is excited to be reunited with Evocator in the TAB Highway (1500m) as he prepares to head to the Mid North Coast regional feature at Tuncurry on February 12.

Cosmic Minerva wins at Gosford on December 31

Evocator has won three of his 11 starts and while Morgan had to sit out his first-up win at Taree a month ago he’s seen more than enough in trials before and after that win to know he’s a real prospect for the Country Championships.

“I trialled him before his first run, he ran in an apprentice race first-up so I couldn’t ride him but I trialled him again the other day and thought he’s come on leaps and bounds,’’ he said.

“The key to him was to draw a nice gate and he’s got that so I think he’s a big hope in that race.

“(The Country Championships) has been the goal from the start of last prep, I think he is doing everything right to be going that way.”

Graham’s stable star Victorem won the Country Championships Final in 2018.

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's Rosehill meeting