Yucatan backed to handle Cup distance
TJ COMERFORD has dispatched stamina queries over Melbourne Cup favourite Yucatan.
Buoyant after Yucatan’s strong 1400m gallop with The Cliffsofmoher, the foreman said Lloyd Williams’s and Aidan O’Brien’s decision to bypass the Caulfield Cup with Herbert Power Stakes winner Yucatan was right.
“He needed that time after Caulfield and it’s important to have the horse right for the Melbourne Cup,” he said.
“I suppose missing out that race has made all the difference. He was a little sore after he ran that first day but he’s bounced back lovely and he’s in a good place.
“When he gets down for his ( sand) roll and when he gets up, he’s bouncing and at leaving time he does it again.
“He’s rearing up and we’ve been giving it plenty ( of work) and he’s been taking it well without emptying him.”
Asked about stepping the import up to 3200m, he said: “I don’t think it’s a problem. He saw out the mile- and- a- half ( 2400m) well and he was ridden very positive as well. If you ride a race on him for two miles he should stay it.”
Comerford said The Cliffsofmoher was ready to improve on his Caulfield Cup third. “There’s no problems with him. He won’t be far away,” he said. “He’s back going well. His dapples are coming out. He’s come on in leaps and bounds.”
Pressed on which of the two horses he preferred, Comerford said: “If you asked me to ride one, I’d be riding Yucatan.”
He said Rostropovich had recovered well from his Cox Plate fifth behind Winx. “He’s never been asked to go that quick,” Comerford said.
“He wants a mile- and- ahalf plus. Next start he’s stepping out over two miles with eight stone ( 51kg) on his back.
“That will be a big difference to him. There’s a nice gap to the Melbourne Cup and he came out of his race well.
“The next morning he licked his feed pot. He took the race well and it’s a good stepping stone to the Melbourne Cup.”