MV On Track 2018

ON TRACK MAGAZINE 51 LADBROKES COX PLATE CONTENDERS TRAINER: Saeed bin Suroor CAREER: 14: 6-2-1 PRIZEMONEY: $5,400,000 BENBATL HUMIDOR SAXON WARRIOR GRUNT KEMENTARI WINX TRAINER: DarrenWeir CAREER: 28: 8-7-2 PRIZEMONEY: $3,420,415 TRAINER: Aidan O’Brien CAREER: 8: 4-1-1 PRIZEMONEY: $1,474,288 TRAINER: Mick Price CAREER: 7: 4-0-1 PRIZEMONEY: $762,250 TRAINER: James Cummings CAREER: 14: 4-4-2 PRIZEMONEY: $1,711,100 TRAINER: Chris Waller CAREER: 36: 30-3-0 PRIZEMONEY: $19,290,424 In search of their first W.S. Cox Plate after placings with Grandera and Hartnell, Godolphin have accepted the MVRC’s invitation to contest the Weight-for- Age Championship with their Group 1 winner. After a breakout 2018 in Dubai which included a 3 ½ demolition in the Dubai Turf, he looks one of Sheik Mohammed’s strongest chances yet. It was a case of close but no cigar in 2017 for Darren Weir’s bullet-proof galloper, twelve months on will he seek his revenge? He was the horse everybody was talking about after the scare he provided in last year’s Cox Plate and with a Blamey Stakes win to follow it up in the autumn and Memsie Stakes in the Spring, he is peaking at the right time. The Ballydole team know what it takes to win the race and a strong three-year-old season puts this son of Deep Impact right in the mix. A dual Group 1 winner, he also boasts placings behind Latrobe and Roaring Lion. Can he deliver the Irishman his second down under feature? Stamping his authority with an undefeated Autumn campaign, the son of O’Reilly is the hype horse leading into the spring. The Australian Guineas winner possess a devastating turn of foot – will the thunderbolt silks of Rupert Legh greet the finish post first in another of The Valley’s Group 1 classics? Touted as the next challenger to Winx last Autumn, the son of Lonhro learnt like many before him the brilliance of the Queen of the Turf in the George Ryder Stakes. With another racing season under his belt and the polish of the Cummings family – can Kementari do what his sire failed to and add the W.S. Cox Plate to his CV? Just when many thought the mighty mare had nothing left to prove, the Queen of The Valley took things to the next level with another masterclass in breaking the course record in being crowned The Valley’s 2017 champion. A faultless Autumn campaign has punters dreaming of an unprecedented fourth W.S. Cox Plate win.