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New Zealand-bred galloper Warmonger will take his place among some of Australia’s elite stayers in Saturday’s A$5 million Gr.1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) in Melbourne.
The Caulfield Cup has been a happy hunting ground for the Kiwis, with wonder mare Verry Elleegant and the Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained Mongolian Khan succeeding in the iconic race in recent times.
Warmonger , a son of Inglewood Stud sire War Decree, was privately sold to Australian syndicators OTI Racing following a trial victory at Ashburton in April 2023 for initial trainers Shane Kennedy and Anna Furlong. In the care of Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr, he has risen to Group One stardom, with a stunning 10-length demolition in the A$1 million Gr.1 Queensland Derby (2400m) in June.
The Caulfield Cup was earmarked by the Cranbourne training partners this campaign and the four-year-old was an early favourite for the race following an impressive first-up fourth in the Gr.1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) behind Mr Brightside, Pride Of Jenni and Antino.
However, an 11th place finish in the Gr.1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) a fortnight ago has Warmonger sitting among the middle-market at $15, but his jockey, expat Kiwi Michael Dee, has faith the gelding can rise to the occasion after appearing for an exhibition gallop on Tuesday morning.
"He definitely just put in a flat performance second-up and he seems extremely well within himself, that (would indicate) he can bounce back third-up," Dee told Racing.com.
"Not so much in his work, but just around the parade ring he was up and about, he was bouncing out of his skin.
"Any horse that goes by themselves on the outside fence at Caulfield, with so much to look at, you can't read too much into them not smashing the clock here. He had his ears pricked, he felt good, so I'm happy with how we got around.
"He definitely prefers to get his toe in, so a little bit of rain on Thursday and Friday certainly will help his chances.
"I just keep going back to that first-up run where he was very good finishing off, so if he can bounce back to something like that, he's going to be finishing off very strongly in a Caulfield Cup."
Since Tuesday's gallop where Dee discussed where the pair may find themselves in the running, Warmonger has drawn barrier 16 of 21 for the race, with the three emergencies all to his inside.
"I'd probably prefer to find the fence more than anything, you can get your horse relaxed and, in a rhythm, and then work out the second half from there," Dee said.
"If we've got a draw where that won't happen, we'll work that out. They'll be going pretty quick I would imagine and I wouldn't think they'll be slowing up too much.
"Ideally it'll be a genuine tempo the whole way, so if we were to draw wide and they were running along, we could risk it a little bit and try to slot in somewhere a bit closer. It's all something to work out when the barrier draw and the field comes out."
Other Kiwi interest will come with multiple Group Three winner Positivity, a mare by Almanzor who gained automatic entry into the race when winning the Gr.3 MRC Foundation Cup (2000m) last month for trainer Andrew Forsman.