Whobegotyou must hold back: Rodd
RACING ROUNDUP
Jockey Michael Rodd says he wants Whobegotyou to avoid a head-and-head showdown in the home straight with So You Think in the Group 1 Yalumba Stakes at Caulfield.
Saturday's six-horse field will bring about a battle of tactics in the 2000m feature and the result could determine favouritism between the two lionhearted gallopers heading into the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley in two weeks.
TAB Sportsbet's market suggests a two-horse race in the Yalumba with So You Think at $1.50 ahead of Whobegotyou ($3).
So You Think is at $2.40 for the Cox Plate while Whobegotyou is $6.50.
"Everyone knows they are the two best horses at the moment for the Cox Plate and we will find out a lot more after Saturday," Rodd said.
Rodd said Whobegotyou faced a serious challenge trying to beat So You Think, especially at Caulfield, but believed with the right run in a slowly-run race he can get over the top of the Bart Cummings-trained star.
"So You Think is flying and is just so tough," Rodd said.
"He gets up on the speed and he keeps going whereas my bloke just needs that soft run behind them and has got that electric turn of foot."
So You Think won last year's Cox Plate and is unbeaten this spring with Memsie and Underwood Stakes wins.
Rodd said that capitalising on Whobegotyou's acceleration was critical to getting past So You Think.
"If it is a slog to the line between them and they are going head and head then you would probably say that So You Think is going to out-grind him (Whobegotyou)," he said.
"But in a small field there will be no pace and that will suit my bloke because he will be back and doesn't have many horses to pass.
"If it is a sprint home he could whiz past him (So You Think)."
Patience on order for Response
Co-trainers Mathew Ellerton and Simon Zahra expect a more patient ride from jockey Craig Williams on Response who is chasing consecutive Group 1 wins in Saturday's Toorak Handicap at Caulfield.
Williams shocked connections last start with a daring frontrunning ride on the four-year-old mare who held on to win by a long neck from No Evidence Needed in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield.
Three weeks after the victory and Zahra still marvels at Response's feat and her ability to race against her normal racing pattern and win at the elite level.
The stable has always rated her as a Group 1 horse and the Toorak (1600m) has been on her program all spring.
Kennedy out for six weeks
Leading apprentice Ben Kennedy will be out for the next six weeks after it was confirmed yesterday he suffered a fracture to his wrist in a fall in the fourth race at Belmont Park on Wednesday.
Kennedy has a good book of six rides on Saturday. He was replaced by Damien Lane on Need Luck (Race 3) and Duncan Miller on Liquidation (Race 4).
Other riding changes are expected to be done today.
Kennedy joins his brother Alan, who also broke a wrist in race fall at Northam last month, on the sidelines.
Trio chase Caulfield Cup reward
Precedence, Moudre or Linton will come right into Caulfield Cup calculations with a win in Saturday's Group 2 Herbert Power Stakes at Caulfield.
Moudre is equal 28th in the elimination order for Saturday week's $2.5 million cup and Precedence (27th) and Linton (equal 25th) are also outside the field limit of 18.
However, the 2400m Herbert Power winner becomes exempt from the Caulfield Cup ballot and cannot be rehandicapped.
A win in the Herbert Power by Precedence would give the Cummings stable three Caulfield Cup runners as VRC Oaks winner Faint Perfume and Queensland Derby winner Dariana are already in the race.
Master O'Reilly, the 2007 Caulfield Cup winner, is one of nine horses currently equal 10th in the ballot order.
