Shoot Out eyes Cup after emotional Cox

Corey Brown missed out on a Cox Plate victory in his mate Stathi Katsidis' memory,
but may be riding his way to Melbourne Cup glory.
Wearing Katsidis' riding silks, Brown stepped in and rode Shoot Out to fourth place
in the $3 million Cox Plate at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
It was a tough and emotional day for all those connected to the horse, after the
champion Queensland jockey's sudden death on Tuesday.
Shoot Out was the sentimental favourite, but when you're chasing a superstar in So
You Think, it was always going to be a tough ask.
"He tried really hard, but when the speed was clapped on, chasing probably
Australia's best horse, it was an effort," Brown said.
Brown had acknowledged that he'd never gone into a race under this much pressure.
He hadn't even ridden Shoot Out before climbing aboard for Australia's
weight-for-age championship.
"It's added pressure, but like I said once I got on, it's game on," Brown said.
"He had a good run, the winner's just too good.
"To his credit though he ran more like a Melbourne Cup horse than a Cox Plate horse."
Trainer John Wallace said he couldn't be happier with Brown's ride.
"I thought it was a terrific Melbourne Cup trial," he said.
Wallace plans to run Shoot Out in the Group One Mackinnon Stakes on Derby Day next
Saturday before taking him back to Flemington on the first Tuesday in November.
"And I'd say he would, you know. They dropped him and he's kept coming anyway,
that's the main thing."
Brown will again ride Shoot Out next Saturday and looks likely to pick him for his
Melbourne Cup ride.
"I'd say so yes, at this stage I will," Brown said.
Wallace acknowledged it had been a tough week and a hard day.
"I'm so used to seeing Stathi riding him around in there," he said before the race.
Katsidis' jockey mates honoured him on Saturday by wearing black armbands in the
first race of the day across Australia.
Nash Rawiller, who rode Elite Falls to victory in the first race at Moonee Valley,
said Katsidis was on the minds of all his colleagues.
"It's just been a terrible week," Rawiller said.
"Everyone in the jockeys' room today before the first race has been talking about it
and what a tragic loss it is.
"We're all a pretty good group of friends and to see something like that .. he's
only just younger than me.
"It's just really hit home. When I told my wife, she burst into tears."
Katsidis had been AJC Australian Derby winner Shoot Out's regular rider.
The 31-year-old was found dead by his fiancee Melissa Jackson in their Brisbane home
on Tuesday.
The Moonee Valley Racing Club included a tribute page to Katsidis in its race book.
"On track he was fiercely competitive, always ready to speak his mind and with a
passion for the industry," the tribute from the Australian Jockeys Association read.
"Those who knew him well held him in the highest regard away from the track as well.
"He was a genuine, caring and generous young man for whom family meant everything."
An autopsy has failed to determine the exact cause of death.
Katsidis' funeral is expected to be held in his home town of Toowoomba on Tuesday.