Rivals have lauded Harry Coffey’s remarkable toughness, as the popular jockey pushes on with his bid to ride Shockletz in the Melbourne Cup after a successful procedure to repair a fractured right collarbone.
Coffey had surgery on Sunday and has been given every chance to prove his fitness for Australia’s greatest race at Flemington on Tuesday by Shockletz’s managing owner Laurence Eales.
The son of 2009 winner Shocking sits on the third line of betting at $9.50 behind fellow Ciaron Maher-trained stayer Point Of Law ($7) and Irish trainer Joseph O’Brien’s Trustyourinstinct ($8).
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Coffey, 31, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at just six weeks of age, was hurt in a scary fall on Saturday, but appears set to take his place in the Cup line-up.
SEN’s Gareth Hall reported Coffey is confident he will able to race.
Fellow jockey Rachel King, who will ride So You Are, praised Coffey’s toughness.
“They always say jockeys are made of different stuff and he’s proving that,” she said.
“I’ve been through a few injuries myself, and I know how hard it is, but I know how determined he’ll be to get back there.
“He won’t do it unless he can be there 100 per cent fit and healthy, but it’s just amazing what he’s doing and what he’s going through.
“It just proves how much it means to us jockeys … Melbourne Cup day is the biggest day of the year.”
Superstar jockey James McDonald will ride Trustyourinstinct for O’Brien and billionaire owner-breeder JP McManus, and rates Shockletz among the main challengers.
He, too, marvelled at Coffey’s bravery, pointing out his rival could take inspiration from the recent recoveries of Mark Zahra and Jye McNeil.
Both rode winners at Flemington last Saturday, two weeks after their Caulfield Cup falls.
“It’s tough going, but we’ve seen it with Mark and Jye. It’s a game of inches and there’s nowhere to hide,” McDonald said.
“(Coffey) is tougher than most of us. It’s like a grand final for us jockeys and trainers. This is the race that stops the nation, so we’d get up for anything.”
The Cup shapes as a showdown between master trainers O’Brien and Maher, who will saddle half of the capacity 24-horse field between them.
Ciaron Maher is hoping to be celebrating a Cup win, just like he did after the Victoria Derby. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)
Irish two-time winner O’Brien has five contenders in a powerful hand from the northern hemisphere, while red-hot local Maher has a record seven in his bid for a second Cup triumph.
“You strive to win these great races, but it’s not easy, especially when they’re so star-studded as this,” legendary trainer Gai Waterhouse said.
“Joseph brought a wonderful group of horses … and Ciaron’s like Alexander the Great at present – everything’s falling before him.”
Waterhouse and co-trainer Adrian Bott will have the oldest horse in the race with nine-year-old Vauban ($51), a fourth-time runner, while George Boughey-trained raider Hopewell Rock ($10) is the best-backed contender to beat the Maher and O’Brien contingents.
Jamie Melham will attempt to become the first female jockey to win back-to-back Cups, having secured a start with outsider Future History ($51).
