Cox Plate Odds: Barrier Draw Hampers Adelaide Bid
October 23rd, 2014 by Pom de TurfThere are teams of busy folk at Racing Victoria who work all year round to make sure that the Melbourne Spring sees a glittering array of international stars making the trip to Australian shores to make bids for the biggest races in the Festival. And looking at the Racing odds at the other end of that link will show you that this year there’s a fair chance that the three biggest accolades in the calendar – the Cox Plate, the Caulfield Cup and the Melbourne Cup – could all be claimed by overseas raiders in 2014.
Japanese star Admire Rakti has already made sure of the Caulfield Cup, and this weekend sees the turn of the Cox Plate – and it’s well-travelled galloper Adelaide who is the pick to win it. Greg Carpenter, Racing Victoria’s Chief Handicapper, seems to be of the mind that Adelaide can overcome an unfavourable barrier draw to get home well: ‘he [Adelaide] has very good credentials. He probably should have nearly won at his last start in France, and for a horse of his age he has pretty much travelled the world. He has raced in England, Ireland, France and America, all against group company and Adelaide also has the bonus of having 2400-metre form, which will stand the horse in good stead under the rigours of the Cox Plate distance.’
Adelaide’s handlers look to be quietly confident, too, and confident in their horse, especially, in the face of the challenges from an unfamiliar environment, and a poor barrier draw, too: ‘we are 100 per cent on target and are absolutely delighted with every aspect of his preparation. The horse is well and they are delighted with the way he worked. Arlington was a tight, left-handed track, as was Belmont, but that said, Moonee Valley is a particularly quirky kind of track in international terms with a very short straight. If you all just sat and then sprinted in the straight, it would be a different story, but we know that [in the Cox Plate] from the 800 metres particularly, and from the 600 metres, they pour on the pressure. He’s used to getting out of his established routine and surroundings and one would hope that would stand him in good stead. That gladiatorial arena and amphitheatre is not something he has experienced – or the crowds in so confined a space – but he’s got a wonderful temperament and he takes most things in his stride. We wouldn’t have any excuses on the score of preparation or acclimatisation, but race day is a different thing. I’d certainly rather be drawn in there than in barrier three where you are likely to get cluttered up. It’s the horse that comes out of the barrier, not what barrier you draw.’
All encouraging noises coming out of the camp, then, of a horse expected to have a real say in the Cox Plate at the weekend, and one that the Racing odds will show you is a real chance to win it, denying local horses another of the big trophies of 2014…
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