Cox Plate hopeful Yankee Rose will return to Moonee Valley on Tuesday morning for ‘Breakfast With The Best’ after coming through her first look at the tricky circuit in great style last Saturday Morning.
Yankee Rose, above winning the Spring Champion Stakes at Randwick, had a gallop at Moonee Valley in preparation for the Cox Plate. Photo by Steve Hart.
Sunshine Coast trainer David Vandyke will give Yankee Rose her chance to take on the best weight for age gallopers from Australia and from overseas in Saturday’s Group 1 $3m Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley after winning her second Group 1 trophy by taking out the Group 1 $500,000 Moet & Chandon Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) at Randwick on October 8.
Yankee Rose wasn’t fully extended to clock 25.98sec for the final 400m of her 1200m work out and Vandyke was happy with the way the All American filly handled the tight turning Moonee Valley track at her first attempt and is keen to take her back there on Tuesday to wrap up her preparation for Saturday’s ‘Weight For Age Championship” when she will have to take on the mighty mare Winx and the impressive Hartnell.
“I thought she went terrific. She seemed to get on her correct leg. She’s nice and relaxed and just seems to handle new surrounds very well,” Vandyke told AAP
“I’m looking forward to her gallop on Tuesday. I think today was good as a preliminary to that, and bring on next Saturday.”
“They’d want to be on their A-game because I think our filly is.”
“And the pressure is off. She won a Group One last start. We’re going in as an underdog and we’re just looking forward to enjoying the ride.”
Yankee Rose is living up to the good form she showed in her two year old year during the 2016 Sydney Autumn Carnival when she ran second to Capitalist in the Group 1 $3.5m Longines Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill followed by a win in the Group 1 $1m Inglis Sires’ (1400m) at Randwick a fortnight later.
The Chris Waller trained Winx heads up the Cox Plate market order at $2.10 with Ladbrokes.com.au ahead of John O’Shea’s Hartnell at $2.90 while Yankee Rose is on the fourth line of betting at $14.
Early Cox Plate market order at Ladbrokes.com.au: $2.10 Winx, $2.90 Hartnell, $12 Vadamos, $14 Yankee Rose, $17 Lucia Valentina, $18 Black Heart Bart, Hauraki, $41 Jameka, Sir Isaac Newton, $61 Sacred Elixir, Awesome Rock, Happy Trails, Palentino, $71 Happy Clapper, $81 or more the rest.
