MELBOURNE - Waikato trainer Robert Priscott has been caught up in a jockey-go-round for his Melbourne Cup contender Hill Of Grace.
It was reported yesterday that Melbourne's leading rider Brett Prebble was not required for Hill Of Grace after the horse was unplaced in the $A2 million ($2.62 million) Caulfield Cup at her previous start.
"That's not the case," Priscott said. "He wanted to ride something else, so I said no worries."
Priscott subsequently engaged Sydney jockey Glenn Boss for both Saturday's $A500,000 Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) at Flemington and the Melbourne Cup.
"At the moment Glenn Boss is the rider, but there's some doubt about that as well now," Priscott said.
Priscott said he had heard on radio that Boss would ride Sky Heights in the Mackinnon Stakes.
Boss rode Sky Heights in last Saturday's Cox Plate but the horse recorded one of the worst performances of his career in finishing second-last.
Doubts surround Hill Of Grace coping with the 3200m of the Melbourne Cup as she has not won beyond 2000m and has not raced further than 2400m. She ran over 2400m four times last season as a three-year-old.
Two of those races yielded second placings. She beat all but Hades in the New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie and was runner-up to She's Country in the New Zealand Oaks at Trentham.
Hill Of Grace's two other runs over 2400m as a three-year-old were in Sydney, in the AJC Derby and the AJC Oaks. She finished fifth both times.
Her only other start over 2400m was in the $A2 million Caulfield Cup in which she weakened to sixth after being in front at the top of the straight.
- NZPA
Racing: Jockey uncertainty for Hill Of Grace
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