On Track - Summer 2019-20

5 While the astute punters had done their form, Lys Gracieux enjoyed a relatively relaxed preparation out at her Werribee Quarantine facility, with no lead up run in Melbourne required for the 6YO mare given trainer Yoshito Yahagi was confident she had residual fitness from her Takaruzuka Kinen win. “In an ideal world I would have preferred to have a run before the Cox Plate, but she always runs well first-up so it doesn’t concern me at all”, Yahagi said in the week leading into the race. Yahagi is no stranger to the Cox Plate and has a rich and deep understanding of the race and its LEGENDARY status as one of the world’s best weight-for-age races. “Back in 1981, when I was 20 years old, I witnessed Kingston Town winning the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley and it was always one of my dreams to bring a horse for the race”, said Yahagi. It was at the Barrier Draw Breakfast that many thought Lys Gracieux may have received her first bump in the road that might have just made it too tough an ask for the travelling star, having drawn barrier 15. The unflappable trainer, wearing his Crocodile Dundee style hat that forms part of an impressive collection he is know well known for, didn’t bat an eyelid. “I certainly would have preferred to be a little bit more inside, but it is better than drawing one or two,” he said with a wry smile. “Because Moonee Valley has such a short straight, I guess everyone will make an early move, but my horse is very versatile, and I’m not worried about how the race is going to pan out”. The other half of the equation is the equally unflappable jockey Damian Lane, who’s short stint in Japan earlier in the year was reaping benefits far beyond his wildest dreams and long after he left Tokyo Airport bound for home. Widely known as ‘Frosty’ for his ice-cool nature both on and off the track, Lane knew what he had underneath him from his association in Japan and was on board for the win in the Group 1 Takaruzuka Kinen. Having won the Caulfield Cup on Mer De Glace just a week before, he had an even higher opinion of Lys Gracieux and was beaming from ear to ear after getting off the mare following her Valley track gallop on the Wednesday before the Group 1 race. “Coming into this Cox Plate, if we get to choose the jockey from anywhere around the world, he’s the one, so he’s definitely the number one jockey to put on and we’re very happy to have him,” Yahagi said. The barriers crash open in the 2019 Ladbrokes Cox Plate.