HIS spot in the world's richest race for country-trained horses is secured, so now it is time for El Mo to start his warm up.
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El Mo, the six-year-old gelding from the stable of Bathurst trainer Gayna Williams, will run at Canterbury on Wednesday as part of his preparation for the $1.3 million The Kosciuszko in October.
While El Mo has a handy career record of five wins and six minors from his 15 starts, his second up form is a perfect three from three.
That is why Williams always planned to give El Mo a run before the October 17 The Kosciuszko - even before he spot in the feature was secured by being selected in the sweepstake by the Port Macquarie Hotel Syndicate.
"His best form is his second up form, so that was always the plan to give him a run. There's no great expectations first up, he just needs a little bit of a fine tune," she said.
El Mo will run in the Impending @ Darley Handicap at Canterbury, which at 1,100 metres is slightly shorter that the 1,200m challenge which lies in wait at Royal Randwick.
El Mo has only won one of his four first-up starts and has never saluted at Canterbury, but for Williams the result is less important than having 'a run under his belt' given Wednesday will mark 300 days since his last race start.
Currently El Mo is rated a $13 shot to win the The Kosciuszko.
Williams knows that winning the rich feature will be no easy task as her gelding faces some quality opposition, so she just hopes El Mo can produce a strong run.
"There are good horses in it and it will be hard to win. It's hard to win races anywhere, to win irrespective of where you are or what grade you're in," she said.
"Some horses have bad luck, there are always hard luck stories coming out of races, and some horses have good luck.
"We're under no illusions, it's definitely a hard race to win, difficult race to win. Winning would be something out of this world, but we're just hoping to be there on the 17th and that we're reasonably competitive. We're just happy to be part of it, he won't win at home in the stable."