As one of the country's leading jockeys Corey Brown is used to pressure but he admits the intensity surrounding his Cox Plate ride on Shoot Out is something else.Brown is on the third favourite only because of the sudden death earlier this week of his close mate Stathi Katsidis.A shocked Brown gave no thought to riding the horse but when trainer John Wallace called to offer him the mount, there was no choice.Brown will wear Katsidis' riding gear with a heavy heart but a job to do in Saturday's $

As one of the country's leading jockeys Corey Brown is used to pressure but he admits the intensity surrounding his Cox Plate ride on Shoot Out is something else.

Brown is on the third favourite only because of the sudden death earlier this week of his close mate Stathi Katsidis.

A shocked Brown gave no thought to riding the horse but when trainer John Wallace called to offer him the mount, there was no choice.

Brown will wear Katsidis' riding gear with a heavy heart but a job to do in Saturday's $3 million weight-for-age championship over 2040 metres of the tight Moonee Valley circuit.

"I've never gone into a race under this much pressure," Brown said.

"It's not good circumstances but it's business for me once we are on the track and I have got a job to do.

"I've got, sort of, the world on my shoulders but I've got a job to do and I'll go out and do it.

"Don't forget Shoot Out was all the rage a few weeks ago.

"He hasn't had a lot of luck in his past couple of starts. He's been trapped out deep, wide with no cover, struggled a few times around Caulfield but once he balanced up he ate the line."

Shoot Out will have to be at the top of his game to get past raging favourite So You Think and glamour mare More Joyous who is aiming for her ninth straight win.

Brown rode More Joyous to victory in the Sebring Sprint and the Group One George Main Stakes last month while Gai Waterhouse's stable jockey Nash Rawiller was suspended and declared her the best horse he had ever ridden.

He doesn't back down from that but says he can't help but be impressed by So You Think's spring form.

Three starts and three wins, including two at Group One level, have last year's Cox Plate champion on target for his defence.

So You Think missed the autumn and underwent surgery for a throat problem.

His trainer Bart Cummings missed much of the autumn and winter with pneumonia and the early spring due to a broken pelvis.

A lightweight Cummings is now up and about and ready for the fight along with his horse.

So You Think's jockey Steven Arnold is acknowledged as one of the best around but with a height difference of at least six inches on his fellow riders, his career is restricted.

Arnold gained worldwide recognition as the victorious pilot of Scenic Blast at Royal Ascot but he too is feeling the pressure of this Cox Plate.

"There is pressure, but it's a good pressure to have," he said.

"I won't lock myself in too much to tactics, I'll be open minded and positive."

Waterhouse is always positive and the pressure will be on Rawiller.

"The Cox Plate is a pressure race," she said.

"The pressure is on the whole time."

So You Think's grip on the race has bookmakers around the country trying to entice business by offering a range of options.

They include prices on just how far he will win by as well as markets without him in the field.