Irish jockey Pat Cosgrave and Godolphin trainer Saeed Bin Surroor were on hand at Werribee on Thursday to cast an eye over their Caulfield Cup hope Best Solution, and the jockey was in little doubt when asked who he regarded as his biggest threat in Saturday's $5 million race.
''Any horse in the race,'' quipped Cosgrave. But it didn't take long for him to pinpoint the threat posed by the Lloyd Williams-owned, Aidan O'Brien-trained The Cliffsofmoher.
“I thought watching the races last week The Cliffsofmoher was a big run from back in the field last Saturday. Ive only got to give him a kilo, which is not so bad.
“I think its going to be a fascinating race but he was one of the eye-catchers last week, coming off the speed. It was 10 furlongs [2000 metres] and I think hell improve going up to 2400m.
“I think hes one of our dangers but there are quite a few horses in the race with chances,''
said Cosgrave, who won the race in question last weekend – the group 1 Caulfield Stakes – on the Bin Suroor-trained Benbatl.
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He is happy with the condition of his Caulfield Cup ride, as is the trainer.
''I was here on Tuesday morning and he looked great, Saeed is really happy with him. He is training well and he looks like he is taking everything pretty much in his stride.''
The Cliffsofmoher is one of the contenders for the Caulfield Cup.Credit:AAP
Best Solution has to give weight to all his other rivals, but Cosgrave sees the positives from that situation.
''He has got top weight for a reason, the handicapper thinks he is the best horse in the race," he said.
''I was suprised he was such a big price [in the betting]. He's a dual group 1 winner from the UK, and he seems to have improved the last six months since coming back from the UAE.''
'The horse is drawn in barrier 17 which, says Cosgrave, ''is not ideal. But someone has to be drawn 17, someone has to be drawn outside me which is even worse.
''It's one of those things, it's going to make my life a little more difficult, but who knows what's a good draw or a bad draw.''
Best Solution will go into the Caulfield Cup first up, but that is not a problem says Bin Suroor.
''He did his main work at Newmarket before he came and he arrived in good form, in good condition and hes ready to run a big race.
''He won two group 1s in Germany and his form in England is also good.
''Hes the right horse we thought to come down here. Hes a tough horse, he has a good heart. If there was rain, that would help him.''
Michael Lynch, The Age's expert on soccer, has had extensive experience of high level journalism in the UK and Australia. Michael has covered the Socceroos through Asia, Europe and South America in their past three World Cup campaigns. He has also reported on Grands Prix and top class motor sport from Asia and Europe. He has won several national media awards for both sports and industry journalism.
