HOLDING OUT
Doubt over Geelong Cup favourite
ROGER Charlton will continue to roll the dice with leading Melbourne Cup hope Withhold, determined to run in Wednesday’s Geelong Cup only if absolutely necessary.
Sitting 34th in the Melbourne Cup order of entry, Withhold’s connections — including legendary poker player and businessman Tony Bloom — are reluctant to run the stayer before the Cup.
Withhold was last night the Geelong Cup favourite at $4.50 and was expected to be an acceptor when the field is released this morning.
“The plan was always never to have a prep (race) and go straight in the Cup but it has been a bit of a freak year with lots of horses coming down and it looks like we’re going to have to have a run,” travelling foreman Tom Charlton said.
“Things can change as we’ve seen over the last few days … so we’ll play it by ear.
“At the moment, the plan is to run him at Geelong but if circumstances come right and we don’t have to, obviously we’ll have to think about it.”
Charlton is keen to avoid a penalty for the Melbourne Cup with the Geelong winner eligible to be re-handicapped.
A last-start winner of the Northumberland Plate at Newcastle in June, beating A Prince Of Arran, Withhold has only 53kg in the Melbourne Cup.
Charlton said the powerfully-built gelding was thriving at Werribee.
“He’s ready for a run if it comes. He’s exactly where we want him and he’s bouncing,” Charlton said.
“He’s very adaptable and has a huge capacity. Seeing him gallop here, he wouldn’t blow a candle out.
“He has got a huge lung and stride and he’s a big horse.”
Saeed bin Suroor said Caulfield Cup winner Best Solution would now progress to the Melbourne Cup on November 6, pending a possible penalty from Racing Victoria’s Greg Carpenter.
“His aim now is the Melbourne Cup,” he said.
“Today he is fresh, happy BPCA: P38 and in good form. It’s amazing how he came back after the race. “I’m really happy with him.” Bin Suroor said the quality of Australian racing had improved immensely in the two decades he has been competing here.
“It is tough racing here. There is better horses, better veterinary, better systems,” he said.
“Everything improved a lot,” he said. “In the old days you could send a Group 3 horse and he would run, but these days you have to send the better horses.
“It’s a very hard race. I myself have finished second three times.
“It’s a two-mile race that we are aiming for now but for the moment our focus is on the Cox Plate.
“Melbourne Cup would be huge if we were to win. Over 20 years I’ve been coming to Australia.”