The Godolphin team are hoping the forecasts for rain on Friday and Saturday in Melbourne come to tuition with their stay galloper Avilius to be advantaged by a wet track.
Avilius has had a checkered lead-up to the 2019 Cox Plate having won the George Main Stakes impressively before failing as the heavily backed short priced favourite in the Caulfield Stakes.
Avilius then suffered a bleed from one nostril in a track gallop on the weekend but connections are hoping rain can help Avilius overcome the issues has had leading into the $5m WFA event.
“We ran him expecting to see good improvement going into the Cox Plate,” said trainer James Cummings.
“It didn’t work out that way, but he’s in very good order, he galloped well at Moonee Valley on Saturday, he’s got the gate and he looks like getting the track conditions to suit him.”
With the rain forecast in Melbourne on Friday and Saturday, James Cummings is more than hopeful of a similar turnaround in Avilius’s form.
“If the heavy traffic from eight races on Friday night and then from Saturday’s racing means they are getting into the track, then he should be suited,” he said.
“The Cox Plate is run late on Saturday with a full card on Friday night to chop up the ground a bit.
“When they’re really getting their toe into it, Avilius is well-suited, so with rain forecast for Friday and Saturday it will be perfect.”
Avilius has continued to drift in betting since his run in the Caulfield Stakes and is now out to $13.
Market đź’°: View the odds for the Cox Plate
