2013 Cox Plate betting continues to heat up in the lead-up to the race; with Caulfield Guineas winner Long John the latest horse to receive support to win the Group 1 Australasian Weight-For-Age Championship at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
Long John will become the first horse to complete the Caulfield Guineas/Cox Plate double since Red Anchor in 1984 if he is succesful at Moonee Valley on Saturday. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
Long John was available at odds of $10 following the withdrawal of glamour mare Atlantic Jewel but the Street Cry gelding is now into $8.50 and is expected to continue to firm in Cox Plate betting markets.
Trainer Peter Snowden knows what it is like to have a three-year-old as one of the favourites in the Cox Plate, after Helmet started the 2011 edition of the race as favourite, but believes there are very little similarities between Long John and the 2011 Caulfield Guineas winner.
“These are two completely different horses; Helmet and this bloke are completely as wide apart as you can get,” Snowden told Racing Ahead.
“The only thing they have in common is that they have both won a Guineas.
“Helmet’s run was a really hard race, he broke the track record, and did all the work himself and it was a hard run.
“This bloke had a soft run; he was given a great run and got to the corner and worked well late.
“He didn’t win by a great margin but in saying that there was a fair margin back to the third horse.”
Snowden said he was unsure whether Long John would start in the 2013 Cox Plate after his victory in the Caulfield Guineas but is confident that the three-year-old has the attributes to win the race – even if he will have to improve significantly from his Caulfield Guineas performance.
“He is a winner, he tries hard and he keeps lifting,” Snowden said.
“If anything comes near him he seems to find another gear but he will need to against these horses.
“Even though there is no speed in there you know that the last 1000m is going to be strong.
“I feel with 49.5kg he is going to put himself in a spot and give himself a chance.”
Long John will jump from barrier 10 in the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley on Saturday, a gate that has not housed the winner since Bonecrusher in 1986, and although Snowden admitted that he would have preferred an inside gate he believes that Long John should be able to get across and take up a position towards the front of the field with Kerrin McEvoy on board.
“It is never ideal, I would prefer to draw in than out, but he will go forward and a lot of these horses are probably 2000 metre plus horses that haven’t got very good gate speed,” Snowden said.
“We will have that in mind and we want to get across before they come out of the straight the first time and put ourself in a spot where we are going to be there when the pressure comes on.
“He will be in the first three or four and with the 49.5kg on his back that is going to help a little bit.”
Long John hasn’t been the only market mover in Cox Plate betting markets; with Chris Waller-trained Foreteller backed into odds of $26.
