Varied Fortunes For Cox Raiders

The four internationally-trained runners in this Saturday’s Gr1 Ladbrokes Cox Plate, widely regarded as Australasia’s weight-for-age championship, experienced contrasting fortunes at Tuesday morning’s barrier draw.

Connections of Magic Wand (Aidan O’Brien), Danceteria (David Menuisier), pre-race favourite Lys Gracieux (Yoshito Yahagi) and fellow Japanese raider Kluger (Tomokazu Takano) were at Moonee Valley Racing Club ahead of the AU$5 million showpiece, won for the last four years by Winx.

Of the quartet, perhaps Magic Wand fared best as the four-year-old mare, who will be ridden by Ryan Moore, will break from gate three in the 14-runner field. Moore galloped the daughter of Galileo, who has finished runner-up at Gr1 level in each of her last two starts, at Racing Victoria’s International Horse Centre on Wednesday.

David Menuisier happy with draw (Pic -Racing Photos)

Menuisier himself chose gate 10 for his last-start Gr1 winner, who will be ridden in the 99th edition of the Cox Plate by Jamie Spencer. If none of the four emergency runners (which include the Saeed bin Suroor-trained Dream Castle) gain a start in the race, Danceteria will start from gate nine with third emergency Gailo Chop – whose ownership group includes ITV Racing presenter Francesca Cumani – having drawn the inside barrier.

“Having walked the track, I was hoping to get between six and 10 so I’m pretty happy with the draw,” said Menuisier.

“The horse did his final piece of work this morning, which I was very pleased with. He had a minor setback with some mucus which is why we decided not to start him last time, but he seems very well in himself now so everything has worked out for the best.

“It’s obviously quite difficult to line up all the form because I don’t know the strength of the opposition, but if he runs up to his best and there are no hard luck stories, then I’m very confident he’ll run a big race.”

Lys Gracieux had been the 5/2 favourite for the Cox Plate, but eased slightly in the market after drawing gate 15; whilst Kluger – who finished runner-up behind Winx in his only previous start in Australia – will break from stall nine.

Just one international raider – the O’Brien-trained Adelaide, in 2014 – has won the Cox Plate, which in recent years has been dominated by the recently-retired superstar Winx.

If Dream Castle does not get a start in the Cox Plate, he will instead compete in the Gr2 Schweppes Crystal Mile (1600m), a race which is also set to feature Danceteria’s stablemate Chief Ironside.

Magic Wand’s stable companion Hunting Horn, who holds an entry for the Lexus Melbourne Cup at Flemington on Tuesday, 5 November, will also run on Saturday in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup.