Courtesy The West Australian website:

Leading Melbourne doubles bookmaker Michael Eskander has advised punters to get in early on Northerly to win his third Cox Plate with the WA superstar already the focus of strong support - four months before the big event.

Eskander said punters were backing Northerly at an astounding rate in doubles bets. "Every second bet we take is on Northerly," he said.

The support has forced Eskander to firm the horse from $7 to $6 for the Cox.

"Punters won't be getting anything like these odds by the time of the race," said Eskander assessor Ken Goodwill. "Northerly is the hottest horse in betting for the spring."

Goodwill said one punter had taken a Cox Plate-Melbourne Cup double coupling Lonhro and Pillage 'N' Plunder to win $250,000 this week.

Lonhro is second favourite at $7 in the Cox.

Connections of Kiwi stayer Pillage 'N' Plunder backed the gelding heavily in pre-post markets before his emphatic win in last month's Adelaide Cup (3200m).

Punters have also rallied behind Sydney filly Private Steer in Cox betting, backing her from $31 into $15, after her brilliant win in last Saturday week's $1 million Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm.

Meanwhile, trainer Fred Kersley said yesterday he was weighing up a first start for Northerly - either in the $201,000 Liston Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on August 23 or in the Goodwood Sprint (1300m) at Belmont Park a week earlier.

"Both races fit into the general time frame of when Northerly would be having his first start," he said. "The Liston carries bigger prize money and the extra 100m might be better for the horse. It all depends on how he is at that point."

Northerly has been back in work at Kersley's training establishment for the past three weeks.

He is hot favourite to take out the Australian Horse of the Year award, which will be announced in Melbourne on July 3. Placid Ark is the only WA horse to have won the award - in 1986-87.


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May the luck of the Irish be with you!



[ This Message was edited by: Paddy on 2003-06-20 11:30 ]