Royal Descent will have to follow in the footsteps of Pinker Pinker if she is to hand Chris Waller his first Cox Plate on Saturday.
The five-year-old mare ran second in the Group 1 Epsom Handicap in Sydney last start, beaten a nose to stablemate He’s Your Man, and the race time of 1.33.34 was the fastest Epsom renewal since the 2001 edition (which was run over 1400m).
It’s the exact form line that outsider Pinker Pinker took in 2011, beating all bar Secret Admirer in the mile race before upsetting favourites Helmet and Jimmy Choux in the weight-for-age classic.
Secret Admirer also ran well in the Plate, finishing fifth beaten less than two lengths to the Greg Eurell-trained mare.
The Epsom in recent times has proven a strong form-race come the Melbourne Spring Carnival.
Last year’s winner Boban took all before him after claiming a famous Epsom victory, winning the Moonga Stakes two weeks later before an emphatic win in the Group 1 Emirates Stakes.
The Epsom-Cox double has only been completed three times in the same year – Noholme (1959), Chatham (1932) and Nightmarch (1929) – but some of the champions of the sport have won both races.
Super Impose won back-to-back Epsom Handicaps in 1990-1991, before claiming the Cox Plate in 1992. Gunsynd recorded an Epsom victory in 1971, and a year later picked him the WFA championship.
The race has also been a key form race for other races on the Melbourne spring calendar – Rangirangdoo ran second in the 2009 Epsom behind Rock Kingdom, before taking out the Crystal Mile on Cox Plate day.
But all eyes this weekend will be on the Group 1 Cox Plate, and Royal Descent holds the key to the race.
Her claim to fame so far is a 10-length ATC Oaks win as a three-year-old, her last race victory, a race that Pinker Pinker placed in as a three-year-old.
She’s drawn barrier 3 for Saturday, the same gate as last year’s winner Shamus Award, and the barrier has also proven handy in other recent Plates – All Too Hard second in 2012, and Rekindled Interest third in 2011.
The number three also bears more good news for Royal Descent fans; champion jockey Glen Boss is set to ride, and he’s already won three Cox Plates – on board Ocean Park (2012), So You Think (2009) and Makybe Diva (2005).
And that’s how many chances trainer Chris Waller has in the race, with Foreteller and Sacred Falls also live hopes for the Waller stable.
But out of the three, Royal Descent looks the one to beat – she’s got the gun jock, the gun barrier, and has run second at her last four starts.
And if recent Epsom form is anything to go by, she’ll give Saturday’s main race one hell of a shake!
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