Cosmic Endeavour To Settle Closer To Speed In Let’s Elope Stakes

Trainer Gai Waterhouse expects classy mare Cosmic Endeavour to settle closer to the speed when she contests the 2015 Let’s Elope Stakes at Flemington on Saturday.

Cosmic Endeavour will carry the famous colours of Bart Cummings when she runs in the 2015 Let's Elope Stakes at Flemington tomorrow. Photo by: Steve Hart

Cosmic Endeavour will carry the famous colours of Bart Cummings when she runs in the 2015 Let’s Elope Stakes at Flemington tomorrow. Photo by: Steve Hart

Cosmic Endeavour returned to the races in the Group 3 Cockram Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on August 29, but she was settled in the second half of the field and she was unable to find clear running in the final stages of the race.

Waterhouse is confident that jockey Kerrin McEvoy will put Cosmic Endeavour in the perfect position in the early stages of the Let’s Elope Stakes and she rates the daughter of Northern Meteor her best winning chance at Flemington this weekend.

“You would think so,” Waterhouse told Racing Ahead when asked if Cosmic Endeavour would be settled further forward.

“She was probably just a bit new first-up and she was just getting her feet again down in Victoria.

“Kerrin is riding superbly and I don’t think that there is any jockey in Australia riding better and he is riding my horses superbly.

“I love it when they really cherry to what I want done and I think Kerrin will have her perfectly placed just behind the leaders.”

Cosmic Endeavour has not recorded a race win since she beat Catkins and Criterion to take out the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) at Royal Randwick on March 7, but Waterhouse is very bullish that she can return to winning form this weekend.

Waterhouse was on hand to watch Cosmic Endeavour work alongside Excess Knowledge at Flemington earlier in the week and she could not be happier with her ahead of the Let’s Elope Stakes.

“This mare is going super,” Waterhouse said.

“I worked her with Excess Knowledge this week because she has gone around by herself for some time now and they can sometimes get in a bit of a comfort zone these older horses.

“I put her with Excess Knowledge and I thought that it was a really lovely piece of work on Tuesday morning at Flemington.

“She is a very good mare, there is none like her in Australia.

“She is big and she is strong and she will certainly fill your eye.”

Cosmic Endeavour is currently available at 2015 Let’s Elope Stakes odds of $7 with Ladbrokes and she is on the second line of betting behind the resuming Noble Protector ($3.60).

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Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.