Tony McEvoy won’t be surprised if Cobbmore develops into a Derby prospect in the spring and is looking forward to running him in town for the first time at Flemington.
Cobbmore runs in Saturday’s Bay and Ranges Hcp (1400m) for two-year-olds and the Listed Taj Rossi Series Final (1600m) two weeks later could be his first stakes test.
McEvoy kicked off Cobbmore’s career in a 1400m-maiden on Pakenham’s synthetic track on June 5 which he won by two lengths.
“He ran as I expected. I thought he would win that race,” McEvoy said.
“He’s a very nice horse and has a lot of scope about him.”
McEvoy expects Cobbmore, a half-brother to multiple stakes placed Get That Jive who finished eighth in this year’s New Zealand Derby, to improve as the distances increase and he gets a bit older.
But the trainer is confident he can measure up on Saturday.
“It’s a big step up but he’s a horse that I’ve always thought of as having Saturday-class ability,” McEvoy said.
“He’s certainly Saturday-class at this time of the year, for sure.
“He could be a Derby horse in the spring.”
McEvoy has six acceptors for Saturday’s meeting including Lucky Lucky Lucky and Streaming By in the Wimmera & Murray Mallee Hcp (2520m).
Weather and track conditions will determine if Lucky Lucky Lucky starts with McEvoy saying he is not effective on wet ground.
Award Of Merit won the Provincial Super Series Final over 1800m in Adelaide on May 14 before McEvoy turned attention to Saturday’s $100,000 David Bourke Provincial Plate (1600m) in Melbourne.
Saturday’s race, which has a field of 12, is restricted to horses which have raced at least three times at non-metropolitan meetings in the past year.
“He won really nicely in Adelaide and because it was six weeks between runs going into a mile race I gave him a trial at Gawler just to keep him up to the mark,” McEvoy said.
“He’s very well.”
Craig Williams won on Award Of Merit last start and takes the ride again.
