COX PLATE GLORY ON THE LINE

By Graham Potter | Saturday, October 24, 2009

You don’t get too many bigger blips on the radar screen of racing than the Cox Plate.

A $3 million dollar race where the winner takes home $1.8 million and even the eighth placed runner picks up $100000 - the race is less about the money and more about the prestige, the bragging rights if you like, the honour of having your horse’s name included in a time-honoured list of champions, and finally, for most who are associated with a winner of this Group 1, Weight-For-Age event - be they owner, trainer or jockey - the moment their horse crosses the line marks the realisation of a lifelong dream.

Some have been there before of course. Trainer Mark Kavanagh who sends out the long-time favourite Whobegotyou, won the race with Maldivian last year. Damien Oliver, who rides Whobegotyou, has already saluted twice in the race aboard Dane Ripper (in 1997) and Northerly (in 2001.

Their experience will be a huge positive force in favour of the highly talented Whobegotyou, who enters his own more-than-useful credentials into the equation. The chestnut gelding is four from four at Moonee Valley, which includes a win over the Cox Plate distance. His record of seven wins and seven runner-up finishes from eighteen starts sets the benchmark against which the chances of all of his opposition are rated.

As with any runner who is flying high there is always of queue of candidates waiting to shoot him down. Heart Of Dreams heads that line. He was less than a length behind Whobegotyou in the Yalumba (over 2000m). In their clash before that Heart Of Dreams beat Whobegotyou in the Underwood (over 1800m) - a result which underlines his claims here.

Whobegotyou and Heart Of Dreams might be the two standouts, but the Cox Plate is by no means a two-horse race. The chance of a longer priced runner emerging from the pack to upstage the main fancies is very real indeed. The likes of Zipping, Vision And Power, Speed Gifted, Scenic Shot and Road To Rock are all very real contenders.

HRO suggested Cox Plate trifecta - $96.00 (or take a percentage as the pocket dictates)

2 Zipping, 8 Road To Rock, 10 Whobegotyou, 11 Heart Of Dreams - for first place.
2 Zipping, 8 Road To Rock, 9 Speed Gifted , 10 Whobegotyou, 11 Heart Of Dreams - for second place.
2 Zipping, 3 Vision And Power, 5 Scenic Shot, 8 Road To Rock, 9 Speed Gifted, 10 Whobegotyou, 11 Heart Of Dreams, 13 Manhatten Rain - for third place.

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