Gold Trip and Mark Zahra in last year's Melbourne Cup(Image: Racing Photos)
The upgraded Good 3 track at The Valley might not have stopped Gold Trip from running in Saturday’s Cox Plate but it may have cost him challenging for the win according to race rider Mark Zahra.
Zahra said the firming ground meant Gold Trip could not quite unleash his trademark sprint, despite finishing less than a length and a half from the winner Romantic Warrior in fifth place.
“With the firm ground and coming back in trip, he wasn’t going to go whoosh,” Zahra explained.
“He laid in a bit, as he can do when the ground is a bit firm. His work through the line was good and I thought his run was exceptional.”
There were concerns earlier at 3.22pm when stewards upgraded the track to a Good3 that Gold Trip’s connections could scratch, but after some consultation it was decided the horse should run.
Zahra explained there was very little room for horses to improve as the field cornered for home.
“They rolled a bit early and then they muddled,” he said. “They towed me into the race down the side but the way the track was playing everyone had the same idea,
“Everyone wanted to save ground around the bend and come out so we didn’t have a lot of room.”
Co-trainer Ciaron Maher said Gold Trip would spend some time down at the beach over the next week as connections set sights on his defense of the Melbourne Cup.
Gold Trip’s spring carnival is looking eerily like that of 12 months ago when he ran second in the Caulfield Cup, seven in the Cox Plate before winning at Flemington, This year, he ran third in the Caulfield Cup and fifth in the Cox Plate.