Cox Plate dream for fairytale Group 1 star King Colorado

“From a maiden at Kembla Grange all the way to a Cox Plate …. Why not! We’re not going to die wondering.”

So says syndication boss Christian Jantzen, as he revealed the spring carnival plans for King Colorado who provided one of the racing year’s most extraordinary stories when winning the Group 1 JJ Atkins during the Queensland winter carnival.

Partly-owned by a syndicate comprising 47 owners, most of whom were racing their first horse, the Ciaron Maher and Dave Eustace-trained two-year-old colt came off a win in a modest Kembla Grange maiden to score the Group 1 at Eagle Farm in June.

Officially, he was backed from as much as $41 to $14 to score the incredible win but some of the owners snapped up as much as $151 in the days leading up to the JJ Atkins.

Connections also picked up $600,000 in prizemoney for the JJ Atkins triumph and celebrations went on for days.

Stable Of Stars syndicate spokesman Jantzen revealed the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas was the primary spring goal for King Colorado.

But connections and the training team were also hoping he could win his way into the Cox Plate where would carry just 49.5kg and be suited by the step out to the 2040m distance at Moonee Valley.

“For the 47 owners, most of them first-time owners, belting out ‘Horses’ at The Valley … that’s the dream,” Jantzen said.

“The Caulfield Guineas is the first obvious target, but our owners will be disappointed to see there’s no $151 on offer this time round.

“We’ll never get those sort of odds again.

“If he wins a race like the Guineas, you’d be mad not to have a throw at the stumps in a race like the Cox Plate.

“The Golden Rose looks very winnable, but we all saw how dynamic he can be over the mile so the Caulfield Guineas, that’s the one we’re really excited about.”

King Colorado is set to have two trials before resuming in the Group 3 Up and Coming Stakes over 1300m at Rosehill on August 26.

Then there are Group 1 tilts at the Golden Rose and the Caulfield Guineas planned and potentially a dream Cox Plate mission.

In TAB fixed odds markets, King Colorado is a $15 chance in the Golden Rose at Rosehill on September 23.

King Colorado is currently a $51 chance in Cox Plate betting with TAB.

The likes of Shamus Award (2013), So You Think (2009), Savabeel (2004) and Octagonal (1995) have won the Cox Plate as three-year-olds.