Trainer Peter Moody believes that there will be no excuses if Lidari is unable to win the 2014 Caulfield Cup this weekend.
Lidari has been one of the best backed runners in 2014 Caulfield Cup betting markets. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
Lidari has not been able to record a race win during the 2014 Spring Racing Carnival, but he has an ideal preparation for the Caulfield Cup and he has produced an improved performance each time he has stepped up in distance including a close second behind Lucia Valentina in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on October 4.
Moody admits that it has taken him two preparations to work out the right way to prepare Lidari and he has been delighted with the Caulfield Cup lead-up form of the Acclamation entire, who he believes can produce his best form over 2400 metres.
“He is in great shape,” Moody said.
“He has had an ideal preparation I believe for a Caulfield Cup.
“He has had a weight-for-age and set weights with penalties campaign into it and he has performed admirably at each of the four occasions he has been to the races this time around.
“I blame myself for probably his first two preparations in Australia when he was a big slug and I did everything in my power to get some speed into him and I overdid it and cooked him.
“He was over racing, but this time around he has really relaxed and settled into the mould of a genuine stayer.
“If you look at his form a couple of seasons back, a mile and a half was his best trip.
“That is certainly the way that he has prepped up and it is certainly the way that he has raced.
“We have arrived in the right race, at the right trip, playing at home, on the limit weight and with a good draw.
“We are in no excuses territory.”
Moody has been successful at Group 1 level on 45 occasions and trained one of the greatest horses in the history of racing in the form of Black Caviar, but a win in one of the four ‘majors’ on the Australian racing calendar is still missing from his racing resume.
The leading Victorian trainer admitted that he may not be the best trainer to ask about what constitutes an ideal Caulfield Cup preparation, but he believes that he may never have a better chance to take out the Group 1 event.
“For his narrow defeat (In The Turnbull Stakes) he meets the winner (Lucia Valentina) better, who is certainly one of the hardest to beat tomorrow, and that is very important.
“History tells you if you can get into these handicaps and beat the handicapper; I’m not saying that we beat the handicapper and we nearly beat him too well so we didn’t make the race.
“Being in on the limit weight with these two horses in such great condition, we are never going to get a better chance to win the race.”
Lidari is now available at 2014 Caulfield Cup odds of $9.50, while stablemate Brambles is now into a quote of $9.
