TrainerT issues Thunder warning

COX Plate runner-up I’m Thunderstruck is primed to pounce if there are any chinks in Anamoe’s Group 1 armour in Saturday’s mouth-watering $3m TAB Champions Stakes (2000m) at Flemington.

While I’m Thunderstruck’s co-trainer Michael Kent Jr concedes Anamoe is the reigning weight-for-age champion over 2000m, he remains confident his horse can again throw out a serious challenge to the Godolphin superstar as he did at The Valley a fortnight ago.

“Anamoe is the best horse at 2000m at weight-for-age in the country, but you can make a solid case we should have gone very close last start (in the Cox Plate),” Kent Jr said.

“(Anamoe) doesn’t get much wrong. He executes his races well and has good tactical nous.”

In a classic edition of the Cox Plate, Anamoe won a fourth consecutive Group 1 this campaign, holding on from I’m Thunderstruck who stormed home to get within half a length.

That came off a slow tempo that didn’t suit the five-yearold, with Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Mark Zahra eager to add another Group 1 to his name after their Cox Plate near-miss.

Mick Price and Kent Jr originally intended to drop the son of Shocking back to the $3m Champions Mile (1600m).

But the way in which the horse bounced back from the Cox Plate convinced them he was better suited staying at 2000m – even if it meant taking on Anamoe.

“It is probably the best he has pulled up in his three runs (this campaign),” Kent Jr said.

“I think that’s because he never emptied out. His run never ended. He had more to give. He was kicking his heels up (this week), so we decided to go for the 2000m race and take on Anamoe.”

It could be the last time the pair meet, with Anamoe set to travel the world next season.