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Can Pornichet rise from the toast of the Queensland Carnival to the pinnacle of Moonee Valley?
Gai Waterhouse is aiming to give her French-bred entire a shot at the Group 1 weight-for-age Cox Plate, following a campaign that culminated in an impressive Group 1 victory.
Waterhouse has watched her charger win the Group 3 Neville Sellwood (2000m), place fifth in the Doncaster Mile (1600m), and then storm to victory in the Toomwoomba Cup (2150m) and the Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m) on the weekend.
Pornichet had the field safely beaten almost at the top of the straight, putting paid to them in short-order, and was pulled up well short of the line to cruise home.
His jockey, Blake Shinn, was delighted.
“I hadn’t done a thing coming around the turn and had plenty of horse,” Shinn told Fairfax. “You are always scared that they are not going to give you what you think when they do that.
“When I went for him it was instant and the turn of foot, he is very special.”
Waterhouse had earlier told reporters that he is being aimed at the Cox Plate.
“It is great he went to Toowoomba and the people there got to see him because he will be a Cox Plate horse in the spring,” Waterhouse told Fairfax.
“We bought him after he was passed in at a sale over in Europe. He went and ran last in the Belmont Derby against Adelaide and then came here and we had to start again.
“It has taken the best part of a year to get him to settle and he is still learning. He will be better in the spring.”
Will Pornichet aim up? If you like antepost markets, he’s the current favourite for the Cox Plate, with Criterion, Contributer, and stablemate Vancouver next in line.
Does that mean anything? It’s hard to imagine that any horse in the Doomben Cup other than Pornichet will be in the Cox Plate field. The hot pace that was put into the race certainly played into his hands, but you can only beat what’s in front of you, and at weight-for-age it was a dominant win.
It’s somewhat reminiscent of Fiorente’s rise through the grades on his way to winning the 2013 Melbourne Cup.