Racing: NZ pair at long odds

Damien Oliver and Whobegotyou face a major challenge from Heart Of Dreams in the Cox Plate. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand is long odds to win tomorrow's A$3 million Cox Plate.

Literally - our two runners Nom du Jeu and Sir Slick are the two outsiders in the weight-for-age classic at Moonee Valley and that's on the New Zealand TAB.

You can get $31 about Nom du Jeu's chances and Sir Slick is at $81, a price that will probably balloon in Australia close to start time.

Cambridge trainer Murray Baker is in hopeful mode, rather than confident that Nom du Jeu can turn his below-par form around in the Southern Hemisphere's richest weight-for-age race.

"In these good class races you can't be getting along on the pace pulling," said Baker, referring to Nom du Jeu's latest trait of grabbing the bit early and racing far too fiercely, something he never did as a 3-year-old or last season.

"I just want to see him jump out of the barriers and drop the bit."

Baker was seeing one positive: "He gets A$100,000 for running eighth."

The price differential between hot favourite Whobegotyou and arch rival Heart Of Dreams probably always had to shorten and it did yesterday.

Punters on both sides of the Tasman have been reluctant to take the $2.40 about Whobegotyou, when $7 was on offer on Heart of Dreams.

The $2.40 remained, but the other price was heading towards $6 late yesterday.

Even that's good when you consider Heart of Dreams was a solid-closing second, three-quarters of a length away, at the end of the group one A$400,000 Yalumba Stakes last start and beat Whobegotyou by nearly half a length in the group one A$350,000 Underwood Stakes the time before.

The score between the two horses is three-two to Whobegotyou.

The previous win by Heart Of Dreams was in the Phar Lap Stakes in Sydney in autumn when he was ridden by Whobegotyou's jockey tomorrow, Damien Oliver, with Michael Rodd on the other horse.

Whobegotyou has the positive of being a wonderful Moonee Valley horse, but at times looks at his best in sit-sprint races and Cox Plates are almost never that.

They are brutal contests and the way Heart Of Dreams finds the line he looks good value even if the $6 barrier is broken. This is not a vintage Cox Plate line-up, but the pre-race hype about these two excellent horses promises fireworks.

It looks like something of an odd choice to run Speed Gifted in the Cox Plate as a lead-up to the Melbourne Cup, particularly after winning over 2400m in the Metropolitan in Sydney, but Lee Freedman makes very few mistakes.

There will be a very good reason for it and we may just see that late tomorrow. The former Northern Hemisphere stayer likes cut in the ground and the Moonee Valley surface will provide that.

* Te Aroha trainer Graeme Nicholson has promised a fast pace in the Cox Plate with Sir Slick, but first the old warhorse has to overcome a hoof injury.

Sir Slick galloped on the course proper at Mornington on Wednesday and pulled up well, but Nicholson noticed he was "a wee bit tender" in a hoof in the afternoon.

"I'm fighting like hell to get him right, but I'm hopeful he will run," Nicholson told NZPA yesterday.

"I am pretty sure I can get him right and I have to convince the stipes that he is right, too.

"I reckon Slick is as good as he has ever been. He doesn't know he's had 100 starts, he just loves racing and I like racing him the way I do. Why should I change?"