Mornington Cup preview: Vow And Declare among leading chances to win country cup
Hezashocka leads a five-horse wagering war for the Caulfield Cup-qualifying Listed $300,000 Mornington Cup (2400m) on Saturday.
The Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr-trained galloper, who ran fourth behind star international Dubai Honour in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes last start at Randwick, has attracted 23 per cent of all TAB win bets on the Mornington Cup.
Right You Are, Nonconformist and Vow And Declare combined, in popularity order, account for 23 per cent of market share, ranging from nine to 13 per cent holds respectively.
Hezashocka is the firm $4 favourite from Nonconformist ($5), Right You Are ($7) and Vow And Declare ($7.50).
Nonconformist and Vow And Declare loom as Mornington Cup disrupters for Hezashocka, who has gate 13 to navigate.
Nonconformist has the inside lane while Vow And Declare will jump from barrier seven, a most successful gate in recent years, following the scratching of Fancy Man on Friday morning.
The withdrawal promoted emergency Caboche, prepared by Chris Waller, into the 14-horse final field.
Only three horses in the past decade, Berisha (2016), Banca Mo (2015) and Tuscan Fire (2013), have won the Mornington Cup from a wide gate.
They all jumped from barrier 12 remarkably.
Equally eerie, the past five winners of the races came out of barriers 4 (two) and 7 (three).
Gear Up, a $16 chance, has barrier four on Saturday, while Mornington-trained Yaphet, who has attracted a sprinkling of support, has gate 12.
2019 Melbourne Cup winner Vow And Declare galloped between races at Geelong earlier in the week with jockey John Allen aboard to tune up for the Mornington Cup after trainer Danny O'Brien elected to bypass the Group 1 Sydney Cup due to the rain-affected track.
"I'm happy with how he's going," Allen said of Vow And Declare.
"He's definitely a better horse around a bigger track but I think he'd be up in the first four (from barrier eight) … there's a good bit of speed in the race and he'll be in the firing line."
Allen rated Vow And Declare brilliantly to win the Zipping Classic (2400m) last spring.
Vow And Declare resumed with back-to-back seconds, with Allen aboard, in the Victoria Cup and Australian Cup Prelude, beaten by Right You Are on both occasions.
The Declaration Of War gelding ran fourth last start in the Group 1 Tancred Stakes (2400m), beaten a fraction over a length.
"He's been in good form his last few starts, I'd imagine on top of the ground in a competitive race he'll be a good chance, hopefully," Allen said.
Seven-year-old Vow And Declare missed the best part of two seasons with repeated injury setbacks after the breakthrough 2019 Melbourne Cup success.
Allen endorsed the lightly-raced gelding, who has won five of 32 starts and placed nine times, to make up for lost time.
"He did a lot of winning as a young horse, he's not that old," Allen said.
"They've done a great job to get him back in such good order and hopefully he can keep racing well for another while."
