Hong Hong-based Australian jockey Blake Shinn will reunite with Humidor (NZ) (Teofilo) in the Cox Plate if the gelding makes the field for the A$5 million race.
Shinn rode Humidor in the 2017 Cox Plate when the gelding gave Winx (Street Cry)a scare, getting within a long neck of the champion in the third of her four Cox Plate victories.
He has not ridden Humidor, who is now trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, since finishing fourth in the 2018 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick.
“It’s a thrill to get the call-up to ride him. Obviously he’s got to get in first,” Shinn told Melbourne radio RSN927 on Wednesday.
The Moonee Valley Racing Club committee is likely to have decisions to make next Tuesday morning when selecting the final make-up of the field which has a limit of 14 runners plus emergencies.
Humidor has placed in the past two Cox Plates, finishing third last year after his second in 2017.
He has been unplaced in his four starts this campaign coming back from a lengthy injury lay-off but turned in his best performance of the preparation when a closing fifth in the Group One Caulfield Stakes last Saturday.
“He’s coming into form at the time that he generally does. So does he deserve his spot and can he win a Cox Plate?
“The answer, in my opinion, yes he can,” Shinn said.
