The five-year-old mare owned by Bob Peters is stepping into the Cox platter after undergoing a form rejuvenation this spring limited by the fall of Russian Camelot in the Group 1 Caulfield Stakes at the last start.
She is reclaiming her throne after suffering from a string of foot problems that long pushed her off the scene after last year’s Golden Eagle when she finished fifth behind Kolding.
Her regular partner, Pike, says she has returned to her brilliant and confident best and that this is a reminder of when she was three years old and faced it all, including winning the Kingston Town Stakes Group I 2018 in Perth.
“She’s returning to those confident, untouchable three-year days when she was virtually unbeaten,” said Pike.
“I’m not going to say she has lengths and lengths of improvement up her sleeve, but I think she is getting a lot better in terms of confidence.
“I think the main problem holding them back was their feet and they seem to be getting better and better.”
Arcadia Queen ridden by Willie Pike wins the Caulfield Stakes. Image: Race photos via Getty Images.
There have been many who doubted whether Arcadia Queen would ever regain her devastating best form as she spent a while in the frenzied wilderness while other big names strutted their things.
Pike says he never doubted her ability.
But he found out that there were many doubts about how far she was from her pet and how to get the most out of Pierro’s daughter.
“I never really guessed her ability at the level, but the second thing I guessed was what distance was the right distance for her and what was the right approach for her,” said Pike.
“When she’s galloping, she’s always the best worker.
“She’s bigger, stronger, and better than the others, and you can tell when you ride her.
“But what kind of racehorse was she? That was the problem.
“She has almost the attitude of a sprinter, but her record shows that she is better at 2000 m.”
Arcadia Queen during breakfast with the best track work in the Moonee Valley. Image: Race photos via Getty Images
The obvious question that goes into the Cox plate is the prospect of a wet track.
In her 13 career starts, Pierro’s daughter has never ridden anything worse than a soft route.
She has ridden soft tracks twice in Melbourne in this campaign and finished fifth in fifth place in the Group 2 PB Lawrence Stakes. Two starts ago she finished third in the Underwood Stakes of Group 1 over 1800 m behind the Russian Camelot.
On her last appearance in the Caulfield Stakes of Group 1, she turned the tables on Russian Camelot over a good distance of 2000 m.
On Friday morning, TAB had Arcadia Queen as a $ 5.50 chance to rise to the glory of Cox Plate on Saturday.
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