2024 Caulfield Cup barrier draw: Luck with Buckaroo, but for Eliyass it’s a no

Luck deserted Caulfield Cup second favourite Eliyass but leading hope Buckaroo fared well at Tuesday’s barrier draw for Saturday’s $5m Caulfield Cup.

Caulfield Cup second favourite Eliyass fared worst in Tuesday’s barrier draw for Saturday’s $5m event.

The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained import drew the outside barrier 21 but will jump from gate 18 after scratchings.

Ladbrokes eased Eliyass’s price from $6 to $7 in Caulfield Cup betting while the Chris Waller-trained Buckaroo held favouritism at $5 after drawing barrier eight.

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Eliyass’s jockey Tim Clark said the presence of on-pacers Duke De Sessa and Deny Knowledge could help him find a good position early in the 2400m Group 1 test act Caulfield.

However, he said the barrier draw would not prompt a change of tactics for the talented galloper, who finished third in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes at Flemington at his Melbourne debut.

“He did a bit of work outside the leader the other day (in the Turnbull Stakes),” Clark said.

“If he can maybe sit behind a couple, he’s got a really good turn of foot which we’ve seen many times in Sydney.

“It looks a race with good speed with Deny Knowledge, Duke De Sessa, they should spread out, there should be spots for him to slot in.

“He’ll roll forward no matter where he draws and it will all depend on the tempo on where he ends up through the run.”

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Warmonger also drew awkwardly in barrier 16, which will become gate 13 if the emergencies don’t gain a start.

Warmonger won his last 2400m start, the Group 1 Queensland Derby, by more than 10 lengths at Eagle Farm in June.

Jockey Michael Dee has the task of negotiating the tricky barrier as he chases a second Caulfield Cup win after scoring on the $18 chance Durston in 2022.

Dee agreed with Clark’s assessment that a strong early speed was likely to prevail in the Caulfield Cup, especially after Deny Knowledge – who led all the way to win last Saturday’s Might And Power Stakes – drew barrier 17.

“I’d prefer to find the fence if anything and get the horse relaxed and in a rhythm and then work out the second half (of the race) from there,” Dee said.

“There should be genuine tempo … they’ll be going pretty quick I’d imagine and I wouldn’t think they’ll be slowing up too much.

“Ideally it will be a genuine tempo the whole way and if they were running along we could risk it a little bit and try and slot in somewhere a bit closer.”

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Japanese galloper Warp Speed eased from $15 to $21 after drawing barrier 19 while Land Legend remained solid at $8 despite drawing the dreaded barrier one.

No horse has won a Caulfield Cup from barrier one since Jack Purtell steered Velocity to victory from the inside gate in 1941.

— with Gilbert Gardiner

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2024 CAULFIELD CUP (2400m)
No. | Horse | (Barrier) | (Trainer) | Jockey | Weight
1 KALAPOUR (4) (Kris Lees) Ben Melham 55kg
2 BUCKAROO (8) (Chris Waller) Joao Moreira 54.5kg
3 CIRCLE OF FIRE (13) (Ciaron Maher) John Allen 54.5kg
4 WARP SPEED (19) (Noboru Takagi) Akira Sugawara 54.5kg
5 HUETOR (7) (Peter Snowden) Luke Currie 54kg
6 WARMONGER (16) (Mick Price, Michael Kent Jr) Mick Dee 53.5kg
7 ELIYASS (21) (Gai Waterhouse, Adrian Bott) Tim Clark 53kg
8 LAND LEGEND (1) (Chris Waller) Zac Purton 53kg
9 YOUNG WERTHER (10) (Danny O’Brien) Jye McNeil 52.5kg
10 DUKE DE SESSA (6) (Ciaron Maher) Harry Coffey 52kg
11 KNIGHT’S CHOICE (14) (John Symons, Sheila Laxon) Robbie Dolan 51.5kg
12 MURAMASA (5) (Trent Busuttin, Natalie Young) Daniel Moor
13 ZARDOZI (12) (James Cummings) Andrea Atzeni 51kg
14 COCO SUN (20) (Tony & Calvin McEvoy) Karis Teetan 50.5kg
15 DENY KNOWLEDGE (17) (Anthony & Sam Freedman) Craig Newitt 50.5kg
16 VALIANT KING (18) (Chris Waller) Teo Nugent 50.5kg
17 POSITIVITY (9) (Andrew Forsman) Winona Costin 50kg
18 SAYEDATY SADATY (2) (Ciaron Maher) Ben Thompson 50kg
Emergencies
19e FANCY MAN (3) (Annabel Neasham, Rob Archibald) TBC 50kg
20e BERKSHIRE BREEZE (15) (Ciaron Maher) TBC 50kg
21e FRANCESCO GUARDI (11) (Chris Waller) TBC 52kg

Originally published as 2024 Caulfield Cup barrier draw: Luck with Buckaroo, but for Eliyass it’s a no