Trainer Colin Scott has revealed that Speediness is still a chance of contesting the 2014 Cox Plate during the 2014 Spring Racing Carnival.
Speediness will start his spring campaign in the Bobbie Lewis Quality at Flemington on September 13. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
Speediness stamped himself as a weight-for-age contender with a close second behind Gordon Lord Byron in the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens on March 29 and Scott said at the end of the Testa Rossa gelding’s autumn preparation that the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley on October 25 was the long term target for the rising seven-year-old.
Scott told Racing Victoria yesterday that Speediness would follow the same spring path as he did last year, resuming in the Group 3 Bobbie Lewis Quality (1200m) at Flemington on September 13 and could contest the Cox Plate if he performs well in the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on September 28 and the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) at Caulfield on October 11.
“It will just depend on how he’s going as to whether we tackle the Cox Plate or whether we go to the Crystal Mile and the Emirates again,” Scott said.
“He’s proven himself at weight for age and if he comes up as good as he did last time I probably wouldn’t be afraid to have a look at the Cox Plate.”
Speediness started his 2013 Spring Racing Carnival campaign with an upset win in the Bobbie Lewis Quality (1200m) and finished a luckless fourth behind Rebel Dane, Fontelina and Solzhenitsyn in the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) after being blocked for a run in the final stages of the race.
The talented gelding made up plenty of ground late to finish fourth in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) and finished his campaign with placings in both the Group 2 Crystal Mile (1600m) and Group 1 Emirates Stakes (1600m).
While the 2040 metres of the Cox Plate could be the spring goal for Speediness, Scott remains confidence that the six-year-old can repeat his impressive performances over shorter distances in his upcoming campaign.
“He’ll be spot on early in his campaign for sure because they’re races that he can genuinely win,” Scott said.
“He won the Bobbie Lewis first up last spring, he can sprint very well fresh and he was desperately unlucky in the Sir Rupert Clarke and the Toorak.”
Carlton House ($9) remains a narrow favourite in the 2014 Cox Plate betting market at Ladbrokes Australia from Sacred Falls ($11), Silent Achiever ($11) and Royal Descent ($13).
