Damien Oliver will move to the brink of joining an elite list of jockeys if lightly-raced colt Eurozone is successful in his first weight-for-age test at Caulfield on Saturday.
Oliver’s Melbourne Cup win on Fiorente last spring took his career Group One tally to 98 and he has the chance to move within one of joining George Moore (119), Roy Higgins (106) and Jim Cassidy (100) in the 100 Club when he rides three-year-old Eurozone in the CF Orr Stakes.
Group Two Stan Fox Stakes winner Eurozone was partnered by Oliver in a solo workout at Caulfield on Tuesday morning.
Oliver expects the Bart and James Cummings-trained colt to have taken plenty out of his look around Caulfield on the course proper and also expects him to raise his game under race conditions.
“He only does what he has to on the track and James has been telling me that so it’s a bit hard to get a full gauge on him,” Oliver said.
“But I’m expecting a little bit more on raceday with that opinion of him that James has got.”
James Cummings said the Orr Stakes was a very important race for Eurozone, winner of four of his six starts, because a Group One win would add significantly to his value.
Fellow three-year-old Shamus Award already has a victory in the Cox Plate, but trainer Danny O’Brien is aware how important each race is for the valuable colt.
“When you have a colt like him every Group One is a major target. You can run value off them and add value to them at each run,” O’Brien said.
“We saw All Too Hard really enhance his reputation winning the Orr and the Futurity last year and we’re not going to the races with any excuses.”
The Orr field could be reduced to six with trainer Jamie Edwards reluctant to run Sertorius due to the predicted heat.
Racing will get underway at 11am and finish at 3.20pm in a bid to beat expected 40-degree temperatures.
“It’s going to be a test for everybody but hopefully we will have it all done and dusted before the worst of it gets there,” chief steward Terry Bailey told Sky Sports Radio.
Measures will be taken to off-set heat stress on horses including the reduction of arrival times on course from two hours to one hour.
There will be a 30-minute gap between races while runners will be sent straight to the barriers instead of parading in the mounting yard.
