Australia: Highland Reel lukewarm choice in Cox Plate

Highland Reel, winner of the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park in August, is a moderate favorite to win Saturday’s $2.16 million Cox Plate at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Australia.

The Cox Plate is run at 1 1/2 miles on turf and is Australia’s top weight-for-age race. The Group 1 Cox Plate could produce a few runners for the Melbourne Cup on Nov. 3, Australia’s most popular race.

Highland Reel, trained by Aidan O’Brien, was fifth behind Golden Horn in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Sept. 12. Golden Horn later won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris on Oct. 4, and is the favorite to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland on Oct. 31.

O’Brien is seeking his second consecutive win in the Cox Plate, having won the 2014 running with Adelaide.

Saturday, Highland Reel is part of a field of 14 that includes five Australian runners who have won Group 1 races in the last six weeks – Criterion, Kermadec, Mourinho, Preferment, and Winx. Highland Reel was listed as a 4-1 shot with bookmakers on Wednesday, a slight choice over 5-1 Criterion and 13-2 Winx.

Winx, a 4-year-old filly, won the Group 1 Epsom Stakes at a mile at Randwick Racecourse on Oct. 3 and will try to win for the first time at 1 1/2 miles on Saturday in her second start at the distance.

Criterion, who was seventh in 2014 Cox Plate, is a top contender based on his win in the Group 1 Caulfield Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Caulfield Racecourse on Oct. 10, his first start since finishing fifth in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in June and sixth in the Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes at York in August.