Mott: My Oberon over the odds

My Oberon's replacement jockey Jamie Mott believes his mount's current $61 quote is well over the odds for Saturday's Cox Plate.

With John Allen suspended, Mott was only offered the ride by connections when he was driving to trackwork at The Valley on Tuesday morning.

Mott, who partnered the horse in the 2022 All-Star Mile, agreed that a last-start third placing behind Fangirl and Mr Brightside is better form than My Oberon's price suggests and he said the race should set up nicely for his mount.

"Correct, exactly," he said, when asked if My Oberon's King Charles III Stakes run is being underrated by the bookies.

"He's drawn to get a good economical run and it would be great if he could run a massive race."

My Oberon hasn't contested a race further than 1800 metres since shifting Down Under, but he did run fourth in the 2004-metre G1 Prince Of Wales Stakes (2004m) when under the care of champion UK-based trainer William Haggas.

He is certainly in the right stable to recapture that form - Annabel Neasham's yard boasts an ultra-impressive strike-rate of 22 per cent in races 2000m or above.

One of these stayers is Balinor, who recently broke his maiden easily at Geelong over 2445m, with Mott producing a corker of a ride.

And regardless of My Oberon's result this weekend, Mott will be keen to continue the association as Neasham's Victorian stable expands.

"She's a great trainer and she's got a lot of horses in work," he said.

"It would definitely be a good idea to keep riding a few winners for her."

Mott will also step in for Allen aboard Neasham's Fancy Man, who will run in the G2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup on Friday night, while Damian Lane replaces Jamie Kah on stable star Zaaki in the Cox Plate.