Helmet Going Forward & Jimmy’s In The Sweet Spot

Helmet

Helmet will be forward in the Cox Plate tomorrow

Despite being his first test against older horses and despite being his first shot at the 2040m there will be no tinkering with the style of racing that has worked so well for Helmet in recent weeks.

Tomorrow’s Cox Plate is without a doubt the biggest test so far in Helmet’s three year old career as he looks to earn an incredible fourth Group 1 title.

With the promise of a bit of early speed in the Cox Plate as well as an outside draw, that hasn’t stopped trainer Peter Snowden from insisting on pushing to the front.

“He’ll be forward, just how far forward depends on just how much pace they do generate in the first 400m,” Snowden said.

“That’s his pattern of racing and we’ll do the same thing on Saturday.”

He acknowledges that there will be more than a few horses on the inside of him that would like to see him caught wide but he is hoping Helmet has the strength to overcome them

“They’re not going to let him get across easy, it’s a Cox Plate so there’ll be a bit of pace going out of the straight the first time, so we’ve just got to be mindful of just how hard we go because we don’t want to be going flat out for the hold race.”

One of the horses that is a real x-factor in the race though is Kiwi import Jimmy Choux.

We know he has the ability to race handy if needed but he’s also capable of coming out from behind the speed.

Trainer John Bary isn’t giving anything away before the race though and says they’ll be letting it unfold a bit form gate nine.

“We’re just going to let (jockey) Jonathan (Riddell) ride his race,” Bary said.

“He’s done it for us before, there’ll be some going forward and we’ll just try to get a position in behind.

“But really it’s up to Jonathan. I’m not one for telling jockeys what they have to do. They’re the top jockeys in the best race for a reason.”

Punters have jumped off the Jimmy Choux bandwagon in droves earlier in the week when he put in a much publicised disappointing effort at Tuesday track work.

He was shown up by rival Rekindled Interest prompting a flood of money to come in for the Jim Conlan trained runner.

Bary isn’t concerned by it though, in fact he actually couldn’t be happier.

“I’m thrilled with him,” he said.

“Everything we’ve done this week has been what we’ve wanted to go right.

“All you can ask when you’re going in to one of these major races is that you have an uninterrupted prep heading in and we’ve had that.

“We’re sitting in a very nice position.”

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