Melbourne Spring Racing Odds: Puccini Has Cox Plate Mojo
August 13th, 2014 by Pom de TurfIt’s great to see a trainer backing his horse to win a race like the Cox Plate, and that’s exactly what Peter McKay was prepared to do when he spoke to Trackside a week ago about his Melbourne Spring prospect Puccini. So if you’re inclined to believe that the leading Kiwi trainer might have some idea what he’s talking about, then make sure you look out for Puccini in those Racing odds as the Cox Plate rolls around…
It’s Puccini’s speed that has McKay waxing so confident about the chances of his 4-year-old: ‘a lot of the horses that have won the Cox Plate generally race on the speed, you have to have good speed up near the lead and keep kicking at the finish. Some people say that it is a hard race to win from the lead, but the last ten years there have been a lot of horses that have led and run or been right up near the lead. He has that sort of ability; he can use a bit of speed early and he is very strong at the finish.’
And Puccini is a horse with some success behind him to add basis to the trainer’s confidence. He didn’t have the best run in the Rosehill Guineas in the Autumn, but he’s a New Zealand Derby winner, and he ran a strong enough race in the Australian Derby in April. Either way, McKay sounds convinced that in the right circumstances, Puccini could bring him a win: ‘it was hard going over there at the end of the prep, but I still feel that he was well enough in himself if the tracks had been right. His first run over there he jumped out and took on the leader and undone himself. I was ready to bring him home, but he just kept thriving on it. The Derby over there was a huge run, Craig Williams said that he travelled up really nice to the corner and when he let him go he couldn’t lengthen in the ground. Rising Romance has gone over there and shown what she is capable of and he has raced against her twice and beaten her twice. He has the ability.’
All that remains for us to add to that is that both Puccini and Rising Romance will be in amongst those Racing odds for the Cox Plate and the result of Melbourne Spring – so get yourself clicking that link to check them out!
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