Sweynesse is into 2014 Cox Plate odds of $26 and he has been the best backed runner in early betting for the Group 1 event at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
Sweynesse (outside) was entered for the 2014 Cox Plate after he impressed trainer John O’Shea with a strong piece of trackwork at Moonee Valley this morning. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
Sweynesse and the other three-year-olds in the Cox Plate field all opened at a quote of $34, but there was early support for Sweynesse and he has been backed into $26 and is an early market mover for the Australasian Weight-For-Age Championship.
24 hours ago Sweynesse was no certainty to take his place in the 2014 Cox Plate field, but trainer John O’Shea told Racing Ahead this morning that he had been impressed with the work of the Lonhro colt and was happy to give him a maiden opportunity at weight-for-age level this weekend.
“I spoke to Henry Plumptre earlier this morning and said that I would like to accept and he was happy to do that,” O’Shea said.
“It is not something that we have taken lightly and we have taken a lot of consideration.
“We had to tick the final box which was a nice piece of work at trackwork this morning and I think that we got that.”
Sweynesse started his 2014 Spring Racing Carnival with a win over First Seal and Hampton Court in the Early Quaddie Handicap (1400m) at Rosehill Gardens on August 30 and took out both the Group 3 Spring Stakes (1600m) at Newcastle on September 17 and the Group 3 Gloaming Stakes (1800m) at Rosehill Gardens on September 27, but had his winning run ended when third in the Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) at Royal Randwick on October 11.
O’Shea believes that the form coming out of the Spring Champion Stakes will be very strong and he said that Sweynesse has a number of attributes that he is confident makes him the right type of horse for the Cox Plate.
“It was a pretty fair version of it with some nice horses,” O’Shea said.
“One-two-three home going forward are going to be a pretty stellar group of horses and hopefully three is because one and two definitely are.
“He is a lovely colt, he is a big strong brut of a thing, 48 and a half for him is going to be a postage stamp and he is happy horse at the moment.
“He has a very relaxed demeanor, nothing fazes him and he will just bob around here on Saturday and that is a big help to him getting the job done.
“He knows his way around the Valley, knows his way around the Cox Plate and he gets the weight without too much drama.”
O’Shea has not had a runner in the Cox Plate since Racing To Win finished a disappointing 11th as favourite behind Fields Of Omagh in the 2006 edition of the race.
