Cox Plate win just ‘tip of the iceberg’
IN a sobering warning to Melbourne Cup rivals, Glen Boss has described Sir Dragonet’s emphatic Cox Plate win as “just the tip of the iceberg”.
Boss was stunned by Sir Dragonet’s searing late speed on a soft 7 track as the Irish import used superior aerobic capacity to run down Armory and Russian Camelot at The Valley on Saturday.
“There are two things that got me about the horse; his finishing speed at the winning post and the way he way he pulled up,” Boss said.
“He pulled up that well that even Ciaron (Maher) was taken aback. It was like he hadn’t had a run.
“He was really impressive.” Boss has been confirmed as Sir Dragonet’s Melbourne Cup rider, and he predicted the son of Camelot would “run top four” at Flemington in favourable conditions.
“The only thing that he wouldn’t want is too hard a track,” Boss said.
“He might end up being a very good weight-for-age horse. He’s already won a Cox Plate, but I reckon that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
“Watch this space with this horse. I was really taken aback with his turn of foot.”
Boss, 51, has 87 Group 1 wins and partnered some of the greats, including Makybe Diva in all three of the mighty mare’s Melbourne Cups.
“Ocean Park was top class and hit a purple patch in his Cox Plate year, but this horse was incredible on Saturday,” Boss said.
“If he gets the right conditions and it’s not a hard track for the Melbourne Cup, he’ll be very hard to beat.”
Sir Dragonet is a $9 second favourite behind his former stablemate, Aidan O’Brientrained Tiger Moth ($6).
Surprise Baby ($10), Anthony Van Dyck ($11) Verry Elleegant ($11), Prince Of Arran ($13) and Russian Camelot ($13) are the only other runners under $20.
Jamie Kah’s following grows seemingly by the day – and with good reason.
The South Australian
leads the Victorian metropolitan and state premierships with 24 and 37 wins respectively, at strike rates of better than 20 per cent.
The emergence of excellent female jockeys is hardly a new phenomenon.
Victorian Jessica Eaton posted a treble at Morphettville on Saturday, when Sophie Logan was almost among the winners.
Ditto at Ascot where Jade McNaught, Lucy Warwick and Beaux Banovic-Edwards figured. And there are many more accomplished women having a major influence.
The Melbourne Racing Club is mourning the death of its former chairman and committee member Kevin Hayes.
Current chairman Pete Le Grand described Hayes as “an outstanding chairman and an absolute gentleman of the turf”.
Peter Young hailed Hayes’s contribution to not only the MRC but “to thoroughbred racing more general and to the community throughout his long and valued business life”.
Ancestry had first use of a sodden The Valley track on Saturday and, over 955m, put it to good use by leading all the way to win, posting impressive sectionals in the process.
He clocked meeting-best splits over 800m (45.97), 600m (34.72), 400m (23.63) and 200m (11.62).