If there’s one omen bet in Saturday’s W.S Cox Plate, it may just very well be on the cult hero I’m Thunderstruck, whose journey from a New Zealand trial winner to a weight-for-age contender has been far from a highway to hell.
Moonee Valley is set to rock like an AC/DC concert on Saturday in front of a sold-out crowd, following two editions of the race being held in front of empty stands through the COVID-19 pandemic.
I’m Thunderstruck is aiming to cause a boilover in Saturday’s Cox Plate.Credit:Wayne Taylor
Of course, I’m Thunderstruck isn’t the only horse with a rock-star name in the time-honoured race, with Mr Brightside – bearing the title of The Killers’ classic – another looking to upset the party of race favourite and last year’s runner-up Anamoe.
But with dark clouds expected on Saturday, it’s easy to foreshadow a thunderous finish from the Mick Price and Mick Kent jnr-trained son of Melbourne Cup winner Shocking to help write the headlines for Sunday’s paper.
I’m Thunderstruck has amassed more than $7 million in his 18-start career to date in Australia, bolstered of course by his victory in the rich Golden Eagle nearly 12 months ago as a four-year-old.
He also finished runner-up on the tail of Zaaki in the All-Star Mile, before being narrowly beaten by Mr Brightside in the Doncaster on a heavy 9 in the autumn, and this spring he has either beaten or run close to those two horses, as well as Anamoe, Alligator Blood and Mo’unga, in four lead-up runs.
He’ll be just the second horse to don the well-recognised OTI Racing silks in the Cox Plate, the other being Gailo Chop, who understandably failed to get within six lengths of champion Winx in two attempts.
The chance to win Saturday’s Cox Plate is at least one in a hundred for OTI Racing’s director Terry Henderson, who came about the formerly named Thunderstruck when he was alerted to an eye-catching trial in New Zealand. The Price Kent Racing team bought into I’m Thunderstruck first, but offered Henderson the chance to go halves, and each filled their ownership slots with clients.
But it wasn’t until the freshly named I’m Thunderstruck jumped out at Caulfield before his race debut, when co-trainer Mick Kent jnr realised he had a potential star on his hands.
“They used to have these half-mile [800-metre] jump outs around a bend, and he was always a keen horse early doors, and we spent a lot of time getting him to relax,” Kent jnr says.
I’m Thunderstruck narrowly took out the Makybe Diva Stakes from Alligator Blood.Credit:Getty Images
“I remember him settling back in the field and circling them, and any horse that could make ground on those tight inside grass jump outs at Caulfield around a bend was a horse you definitely raised your eyebrows and had an extra look at.
“The way he can move, I haven’t in my time seen a horse with an action like his. He’s got the best action you’ll ever see, in that he covers ground, but he does it so efficiently. He points his toe, there’s virtually no wasted movement in his action.
“I think early on we knew he was good, but until you step them up and put them in high-pressure races, you don’t know how good they might be.”
Kent jnr describes I’m Thunderstruck as a “rock star”, one that will get toey with anticipation before walking onto Saturday’s main stage.
“He’s a polite gelding in many ways, but he’s got that good, nervous energy about him,” Kent jnr says.
“You’ve got to have your wits about you at certain times. He’s got the rock star looks, I suppose, so everyone in the stable gives him an extra pat. He gets a bit of extra attention, for sure. He’s certainly the king of our stables, so he gets the royal treatment.”
But the field in Saturday’s race is full of characters, like Anamoe, a stallion in the making with an envious CV to boast, and European import El Bodegon, whose race record defies his slight 415 kg frame.
There’s no Southern Hemisphere-bred three-year-old with a light weight, and no fillies or mares in this year’s race, but the field is stacked with X-factor. Horses like Zaaki, who took Australia by storm last year before his shock scratching as favourite on the morning of last year’s Cox Plate, or his stablemates Mo’unga and Laws Of Indices, any of which would put Annabel Neasham into the history books as the first female trainer to win the Cox Plate.
I’m Thunderstruck is aiming to cause a boilover in Saturday’s Cox Plate.Credit:Wayne Taylor
Then there’s enigma that is Alligator Blood, a gun three-year-old who was barely seen for two years due to injury, before wins over 1400 metres in the Stradbroke and 1800 metres in the Underwood, formerly owned by a businessman named Allan Endresz, who has since divested his share to billionaire Gerry Harvey because of Endresz’ bankruptcy status.
Danny O’Brien’s Young Werther has won just one race, a 1500-metre maiden at Geelong, but has raced five times at group 1 level and placed four times, including last start in the Turnbull Stakes. O’Brien’s won the race before, with a horse who went into the Cox Plate as a maiden.
Profondo was the boom colt last year following his win over the Spring Champion Stakes, but will have to resurrect his form to leap back into Cox Plate calculations, while Gold Trip – another who was scratched in the lead-up to last year’s Cox Plate – backs up seven days after his nail-biting defeat in the Caulfield Cup.
But I’m Thunderstruck warrants his place alongside those horses, according to Kent jnr, who hasn’t yet wrapped his head around the idea that he could be a Cox Plate winning trainer by Saturday night.
“It hasn’t dawned on me yet; I think it will dawn on me tomorrow,” Kent jnr says.
“In a way, we’ve prepared it like it’s another race, but I think when I get there and all the fanfare and carry on before the race I’ll get excited and toey.
“But the Cox Plate is Australia’s premier weight-for-age race, it’s the race only champions win. If he won it, he would be a deserving winner.”
