Caulfield Cup weights up 1.5kgs, No Green Moon or Sea Moon

Caulfield Cup weights will be raised 1.5kgs after owner Lloyd Williams advised Racing Victoria Stewards that original top weight Green Moon and stablemate Sea Moon would not be lining up in the Group 1 $2.65m BMW Caulfield Cup (2400m) at Caulfield on Saturday.

Green Moon won't run in the Caulfield Cup.

Green Moon, above, won't run in the Caulfield Cup. Photo by Race Horse Photos Australia.

Williams will only have one runner, Fawkner, with Mourayan, Seville, Masked Marvel and Tanby also to miss out on a start.

The Peter Moody trained Manighar will now carry the number one saddle cloth.

Last year’s Melbourne Cup winner Green Moon had been struggling to be one hundred per cent fit after being forced to miss last Saturday’s Group 1 $400,000 Cathay Pacific Caulfield Stakes (2000m) because of an elevated temperature.

And Williams has decided against backing up Sea Moon after the classy import scored his first Australian win on Saturday in the Group 2 $220,000 Sportingbet Herbert Power Stakes (2400m) at Caulfield.

After Sea Moon won on Saturday part owner Nick Williams had hinted that the English stayer could back up in the Caulfield Cup, but that thought has now been quashed.

Fawkner has come in for some solid support and is now a $10 chance after his narrow second to Happy Trails in the Group 1 $500,000 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on October 5.

With Green Moon and Sea Moon out of the picture, it clears the way for Nash Rawiller to take the ride on the Chris Waller trained Royal Descent who is well up in the betting at $8, behind stablemate Hawkspur, the $4.40 favourite and English visitor Dandino at $7.

Even though the new top weight Manighar is rated a $51 chance, trainer Peter Moody is confident that the grey will run a good race.

The multiple Group 1 winner pleased Moody with a solid workout  on Saturday morning at Caulfield after recovering from a virus that affected his run in the Turnbull Stakes when he finished near the tail of the field and will take his place in the Caulfield Cup.

“He’ll go into the Cup,” Moody told the Herald Sun.

Luke Nolen will keep the ride on Manighar while Corey Brown will return from Singapore to be reunited with Moody’s other Caulfield Cup runner My Quest For Peace ($61).

Trainner Mark Kavangha has opted against backing up Super Cool after the four year old raced below par last Saturday in the Caulfield Stakes on a hard track.

“He felt the track last Saturday as it was pretty hard. I don’t see it improving again on Saturday,” Kavanagh said.

About The Author

Mark Mazzaglia

Mark is a passionate journalist with a life-time involvement in the racing industry. He spent many years as an analyst and form expert at the Courier Mail and also has hands-on experience working with some of Queensland’s top trainers.