Tasmanian trainer Adam Trinder has done his job with Mystic Journey and now it’s up to the mare and jockey Anthony Damarnin to do their part in the Cox Plate.
Trinder says he is calm after seeing Mystic Journey settled in and relaxed at Tony McEvoy‘s Flemington stable after making the ferry trip from Tasmania on Thursday night.
In a former life as a jumps jockey, Trinder was accustomed to riding highly fancied chances in feature races, but he says having the $7 second favourite in Saturday’s $5 million race at The Valley is more pressure.
“You can only control up until you let her go out of the mounting yard, then it’s totally out of your control,” Trinder said.
“There’s a little bit of apprehension in that regard, but I trust we’re handling it and have done everything right.”
With the retirement of four-time Cox Plate winner Winx, Mystic Journey was looked upon as the champion’s replacement.
She won the Australian Guineas and inaugural All-Star Mile at Flemington in the autumn and returned to win the Lawrence Stakes at Caulfield in August.
But Mystic Journey was beaten at her two subsequent starts allowing her and Trinder to escape the microscope that was applied to Chris Waller and Winx.
Trinder said Mystic Journey still has her loyal band while a few had dropped away.
“I don’t listen to the outside noise too much,” Trinder said.
“I’m a racehorse trainer. I focus on that, training and having her in the best order we can which I believe we’ve been able to achieve.”
Having grown up in racing, Trinder says the Cox Plate is a race he has always wanted to win.
“My grandfather won the Melbourne Cup in 1972 and the Cox Plate is the holy grail in my mind,” Trinder said.
“It’s one of the big three and we love this opportunity to line up in one of the most prestigious races in Australian racing.”