Waller could have just one runner in Caulfield Cup
Chris Waller’s once strong-hand in the Caulfield Cup was reduced to just one confirmed runner when final acceptances were taken yesterday for Saturday’s A$5 million race.
Unless there are further scratchings before Saturday, Sydney’s champion trainer will saddle just four-year-old mare Youngstar — the current favourite for the race — after earlier ruling out Count Octave for the spring with an injury and announcing a change of plan with fellow import Finche.
Other Waller entrants Unforgotten and Egg Tart were also not among the final 20 acceptances.
Such were the number of withdrawals from the race over recent days, however, Waller’s Metropolitan Handicap winner Patrick Erin moved all the way up to first emergency for the race with Lindsay Park’s Jaameh the second emergency.
Waller said Finche was likely instead to make his Australian debut in the Geelong Cup on his way to running in the Melbourne Cup.
“Does he need a really hard run before the Melbourne Cup, which is his main target?” Waller told Racing.com.
“Wherever he goes it’s going to be pretty tough but I would have thought the Geelong Cup would have been slightly earlier and it’s a path that a few horses previously have taken with success.”
Another import, A Prince Of Arran, was also missing from the final acceptances, with the Charlie Fellows stable now preferring a shot at the Geelong Cup or Bendigo Cup on his way to the Melbourne Cup rather than backing him up a week after his Australian debut.
Count Octave joined the Waller stable from English trainer Andrew Balding after Aquis Farm bought into the ownership with Sheikh Fahad’s Qatar Racing. “Following the detection of some heat in a foreleg it has been decided that Count Octave will not race during the Spring Carnival and will be withdrawn from the 2018 Melbourne Cup Carnival,” Waller said in a statement yesterday.
Waller also confirmed the spring was over for last Saturday’s extraordinary Caulfield Guineas winner The Autumn Sun.
“The Autumn Sun is an incredibly exciting colt and I am very proud of his achievements in his short career to date,” Waller said.
“I do understand that there was a level of expectation to see him race again this spring, however, my job is to ensure we see the best of what The Autumn Sun has to offer with longevity our primary concern.”
The Caulfield Cup surprises keep coming with the new favourite Yucatan now out of the running for the race and in line for a possible surprise Cox Plate start.
Co-owner Lloyd Williams confirmed on Monday night that the Herbert Power Stakes winner would not run in the Caulfield Cup but that there had been no interruption to his Melbourne Cup campaign.