Gai Waterhouse has indicated that she has a designated spot on her mantelpiece for a Cox Plate trophy, a significant addition to her collection which already includes the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, and Golden Slipper.
The training partnership of Waterhouse and Adrian Bott is set to contest the Cox Plate (2040m) with Sir Delius this Saturday at Flemington, as the traditional Moonee Valley track is currently undergoing reconstruction.
“Over 30 years I’ve had a lot of good chances, including Alligator Blood, but it’s a hard race to win,” Waterhouse remarked.
“I don’t think about the past, I think of the future and that’s what I’m training the horse to do, but it would be very nice to have.
“I’ve got a spot on the mantlepiece ready for it.”
Sir Delius was controversially scratched from last year’s Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup due to CT scans revealing a heightened risk of injury. The imported entire returned in the autumn to win the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick third-up from a spell, and enters Saturday’s Cox Plate at the same stage of his campaign.
In his two prior outings this preparation, Sir Delius finished fourth at Flemington on both occasions, appearing somewhat below par. However, Waterhouse is confident her horse will find his best form on Saturday.
“He’s not working quite the same as he was last year, but he’s a year older and he’s more mature, but he’s very fit and a happy horse going into the race,” Waterhouse stated.
“He’s only had the two starts for the spring and his second start in the Turnbull, the track was a little bit affected, the speed was on, which it could be again on Saturday, but he came out of it very well.
“I think it’s a very tough race, a race of a lot of depth and every one of the horses deserve to be there.
“It’s a serious race.”
Waterhouse intends to defer finalising race tactics until race morning, contingent on any scratchings.
The trainer is hoping for dry conditions on Saturday and for the predicted rain to hold off.
“I always wait until the morning of the race, see if there are any scratchings before deciding on tactics,” Waterhouse advised.
“I like to have the speed maps, I like to talk to Adrian and the jockeys.
“I always talk to the jockeys before the race, to get in my mind, and their mind, what we’re hoping is going to happen, and then everything is taken to chance, the speed, whether it rains, you just don’t know.
“Being in the right place at the right time, it’s all a part of it, and that’s why you hope to have the best jockey and we have with Craig Williams.
“We had rain in the Turnbull and that didn’t go our way.”
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