Galloper zeroes in on Cup

QUALITY galloper Nonconformist will continue his Caulfield Cup preparation via a crucial set of barrier trials at Cranbourne on Tuesday.

Nonconformist emerged as a Group 1 contender last spring with a narrow defeat in the Might And Power and a solid second behind Incentivise in the Caulfield Cup.

The six-year-old’s trainer Grahame Begg scrapped a trip north for Nonconformist in the autumn as wet tracks took hold in Sydney and Brisbane earlier in the year.

But Begg said the longer than planned break might have been a blessing for the son of Rebel Raider.

“The rain was the biggest problem for him in the autumn,” Begg said.

“It might actually work to his favour because he’s definitely matured.”

Nonconformist performed well in an 800m jumpout at Cranbourne last month but the gelding will be in action over 1190m in Tuesday morning’s trial.

Nonconformist and his stablemate Lunar Flare are two of several Caulfield and Melbourne Cup hopes that will trial at Cranbourne.

The trial will help to prepare Nonconformist for his first-up assignment in the $1m Memsie Stakes over 1400mm to be run at Caulfield on August 27.

Begg said that Nonconformist’s Caulfield Cup placing would provide certainty for his preparation for another crack at the October showpiece.

Nonconformist won his way into last year’s Caulfield Cup via the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes but Begg could take the winner of $1.5m to this year’s race via a more traditional route.

“He’s passed all the ballots (clauses) but he’s not exempt from the ballot,” Begg said.

“But I don’t think we need to make sure he’s ballot exempt this year.

“I think he’ll be right. “He’ll go up a bit in weight, I would have thought he’d get around the 53.5 (kg) mark this year.”

Begg has set Lunar Flare to chase a Caulfield Cup start via this year’s Naturalism Stakes.

Lunar Flare won last year’s Moonee Valley Gold Cup at Group 2 level and ran fourth in the Winter Championship Final in her only 2022 appearance.

“She’ll run first-up in the Heatherlie (Handicap) over 1700m on the same day as the Memsie (Stakes),” Begg said.

“She ran over a mile firstup in the Winter Championship and we’ve kept her in work at Balnarring.

“She’ll more than likely run in the Naturalism secondup then we can look at stepping her up after that.”

Nonconformist is a $15 equal second favourite in Caulfield Cup betting while Lunar Flare is $101 for the October 15 event.