The 2015 Cox Plate second acceptances have been released and five international-trained gallopers are still a chance of making the trip to Australia for the Group 1 event that will be held at Moonee Valley on October 24.
Criterion will arrive back in Australia this weekend along with the first planeload of international 2015 Spring Racing Carnival contenders. Photo by: Steve Hart
Arod was temporarily ruled out of Cox Plate contention on Makybe Diva Stakes Day due to a mix-up regarding the dates required for quarantine, but the Teofilo entire is now set to make the trip to Australia for the Australasian Weight-For-Age Championship after he was scratched from the Group 1 Prix Du Moulin De Longchamp (1600m) in France on September 13.
The talented entire is still chasing a maiden win at the highest level of racing, but he has been in outstanding form during the 2015 racing season and he took out the Group 3 Diomed Stakes (1713m) at Epsom Downs on June 5 and the Group 2 Summer Mile Stakes (1609m) at Royal Ascot on July 11 before he finished a gallant second behind Solow in the Group 1 Sussex Stakes (1609m) at Goodwood on July 29.
Lightning Spear has form around Arod and he is another Northern Hemisphere-based horse that has been included in the Cox Plate second acceptances.
The Pivotal colt made his Group 1 debut with a credible fourth behind Esoterique in the Group 1 Prix Du Haras De Fresnay (1600m) at Deauville on August 16 and he was far from disgraced when third in the Group 2 Boomerang Stakes (1609m) in Ireland on September 12.
Aidan O’Brien won the 2014 edition of the Cox Plate with Adelaide and he could have two runners in this year’s race after he included both Highland Reel and Ol’ Man River in the second acceptances.
Highland Reel has followed a similar path to the Cox Plate as Adelaide following his dominant victory in the Group 1 Secretariat Stakes (2012m) in the United Stakes on August 15 before his credible fifth behind Golden Horn in the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes (2011m) at Leopardstown on September 12, while Ol’ Man River was slightly disappointing when fifth behind New Bay in the Group 2 Prix Niel (2400m) at Longchamp on September 13.
The final Northern Hemisphere-trained horse in the 2015 Cox Plate second acceptances is OTI Racing-owned Gailo Chop.
Gailo Chop was purchased by OTI Racing following his impressive win in the Group 2 Prix Guillaume D’Ornano (2000m) in August of last year and he finished a credible second behind Solow in the Group 1 Prix D’Ispahan (1850m) at Longchamp on May 24, but he beat home just a single runner in the Group 1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (2011m) during the Royal Ascot Meeting before he returned to winning form with a smart effort in the Group 3 La Coupe De Maisons-Laffitte (2000m) on Saturday.
There is also set to be plenty of local talent in the Cox Plate and Group 1 winners Beaten Up, Complacent, Contributer, Criterion, Fawkner, Fenway, Happy Trails, Grand Marshal, Foreteller, Hartnell, Kermadec, Lucia Valentina, Magicool, Lucky Hussler, May’s Dream, Mongolian Khan, Moriarty, Pornichet, Preferment, Protectionist, Puccini, Rising Romance, Royal Descent, Volkstok’n’barrell, Who Shot Thebarman and Winx have been included in the 2015 Cox Plate second acceptances.
There could also be a three-year-old presence in the Cox Plate in the form of Jameka, Iron Boss, Mr Individual, Odyssey Moon, Payroll, Press Statement, Snoopy and The Weald, while veteran geldings like The Cleaner and Mourinho remain in the Cox Plate second acceptances.
