Fellow riders James McDonald and Rachel King understand the determination of Harry Coffey as he strives to compete in the Melbourne Cup, despite a recent injury.
Coffey sustained a collarbone fracture during a fall in the Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on Saturday. He underwent a procedure on Sunday in an effort to retain his ride on Shockletz for the Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on Tuesday.
McDonald, who is set to ride Trustyourinstinct, shared his perspective, noting that the worst injury he had experienced while riding was a broken toe, ‘touch wood’.
“It’s like a Grand Final for us jockeys,” McDonald stated. “This is the race that stops the nation, so you’d try and get up for anything. It’s tough going, and we saw it with Mark Zahra and Jye McNeil the other day. It’s a game of inches and there’s nowhere to hide.”
King echoed these sentiments, acknowledging the challenges that can sideline a jockey.
“I’ve been through a few injuries myself and know how hard it is, and I’m sure he won’t be there unless he’s 100 percent,” King remarked. “It’s amazing what he is doing and going through. It proves how much it means to us jockeys.”
So You Are’s trainer, Bjorn Baker, expressed his admiration for jockeys, regarding them as among the most fearless athletes globally, pound for pound.
“Harry Coffey is remarkably tough and he’s a great, great person, and hopefully he’s A OK,” Baker commented. “He’s resilient and as tough as teak and I think that’s what a lot of the jockey’s do. Pound for pound, they are the toughest, fittest, most fearless sportsmen and women in the world, and I do not say that lightly.”
McDonald is aiming for his second Cup victory, having previously won aboard Verry Elleegant in 2021, a year marked by COVID restrictions on crowds. His current mount, Trustyourinstinct, will depart from barrier 18, the same gate Verry Elleegant used to win.
“Someone texted me to say that the last horse to jump out of barrier 18 was Verry Elleegant to win the race,” McDonald shared. “I will be taking that as a positive.”
McDonald recalled riding against Trustyourinstinct’s trainer, Joseph O’Brien, in their earlier racing careers and is anticipating riding the stayer for its renowned Irish owner, JP McManus.
“His colours are so famous around the world. He’s won big races around the world and he’s an icon of racing,” McDonald said. “He’s never won the Melbourne Cup, so it would be pretty special. There will be nerves thinking about it tonight and tomorrow as it’s our pinnacle race, it and the Cox Plate and The Everest. It’s the Holy Grail that we strive to achieve. I’ve been lucky enough to win it once and I’d like to bottle all that up and do it again. It’s an honour to ride for the connections, an Irish runner, and it would be pretty special if we can get the job done. He’s a great chance.”
King, who has yet to place in five prior Melbourne Cup rides, considers So You Are her strongest contender this year.
“I’m really confident he can run well,” King stated. “He’s not the finished product yet and there’s more to come but this preparation he’s got better and better. He’s a very fit horse and he’s as confident as I am.”
For Baker, a victory with So You Are would offer a sense of closure, honouring his father Murray’s second-place finish in the 1990 Cup with The Phantom.
As the Melbourne Cup increasingly becomes an international event, Baker feels he is representing Australasia with his runner.
Having grown up in New Zealand before establishing his training base in Sydney at Warwick Farm, Baker is proud to represent the region.
“I really feel I’m representing Australasia when I go into a race like this with a true Aussie bred, tough stayer, and the underdogs can win,” Baker explained. “Murray couldn’t quite do it. In 1990, he’s still got the second fastest time ever in the Melbourne Cup when The Phantom was beaten by Kingston Rule. It was a race record. It was the one that got away and he will dream that we can do it.”
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