Trainer Chris Waller believes that the 2014 Caulfield Cup will be the perfect 2014 Melbourne Cup lead-up run for tough stayer Who Shot Thebarman.
Who Shot Thebarman is likely to earn a start in the 2014 Caulfield Cup field and is set to be one of four Chris Waller-trained runners in the race. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
Who Shot Thebarman was well down the Caulfield Cup order of entry before he took out the Group 3 The Bart Cummings (2520m) at Flemington last Saturday, but now looks likely to sneak into the field after he was allocated a weight penalty of one and a half kilograms for the tough win.
Waller is very bullish about the chances of Who Shot Thebarman in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 4 and he told Sky Racing HQ that he is thrilled to have the chance to run the Auckland Cup winner in the Caulfield Cup at Caulfield on October 11 before he contests ‘the race that stops nation’.
“I am very keen to run him there if I can,” Waller said.
“I think that it is the perfect lead-up for the Melbourne Cup.
“I don’t think that he could win a Caulfield Cup, but he will certainly be the horse that can stay the two miles for the Caulfield Cup.
“He hasn’t had cover in his last two starts, he has been three wide the majority of the way without cover and still won very well.
“He is certainly a chance, but two miles is really what he is looking for and I think that the Caulfield Cup will be the perfect build-up race for the Melbourne Cup.”
Waller currently has six horses in the top 21 of the Caulfield Cup order of entry and at this stage looks as though he will have a minimum of three runners in the Melbourne Racing Club’s feature race.
Junoob and Moriarty worked their way into Caulfield Cup contention after taking out the Group 1 The Metropolitan (2400m) and the Group 3 Craven Plate (2000m) respectively at Royal Randwick on Saturday, while the leading Sydney trainer is keen to give Hawkspur another crack at the race after he finished an unlucky seventh as favourite in the race last year.
“I am almost certain that all three will run in the Caulfield Cup,” Waller said of Hawkspur, Junoob and Moriarty.
“Moriarty is back in winning form.
“It might have only been a Craven Plate, but he did beat Rising Romance and she is certainly right in the market.
“We went back and watched the replay of last year and both Moriarty and Hawkspur were last turning for home and they both came within about three lengths of the winner.
“I think they both deserve another chance.”
Foreteller is on top of the Caulfield Cup ballot, but is set to run in the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) after contesting the Group 1 Caulfield Stakes (2000m) on Saturday, while He’s Your Man is expected to head to the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on Victoria Derby Day.
