Caulfield Cup 2016: Lee Freedman believes four raiders and Jameka have the race between them

CUP FIELD: HALL of fame trainer Lee Freedman views the Caulfield Cup as a showdown between ruling favourite Jameka and four high-class internationals.

Jameka wins the Foundation Cup. Picture: Getty Images

HALL of Fame trainer Lee Freedman views the Caulfield Cup as a showdown between favourite Jameka and four high-class internationals.

Freedman will saddle raider Exospheric as well as Our Ivanhowe, but warned Germany’s heavily-backed Articus was “the sleeper” of the field.

Asked to assess the cup, Freedman said: “It’s probably looking like her (Jameka) and the imports (Articus, Exospheric, Sir Isaac Newton and Scottish).

“This horse Articus, he ­impresses me a lot.

“He’s trained by a canny little German (Andreas Wohler) who is very bubbly. He (Wohler) is happy with his horse.”

Freedman’s summary ref­lects the TAB market order — with Ciaron Maher’s Jameka ($3.40) holding sway from Scottish ($7) and Articus ($8).

Exospheric ($10) and Aidan O’Brien’s Sir Isaac Newton ($15) are also prominent.

Trainer Andreas Wohler (second left) chats with trainer Lee Freedman as Articus returns from trackwork. Picture: Mark Stewart

Freedman was amazed how Oaks winner Jameka had coped with a “big spring and a big autumn” and had continued to perform this spring.

“She is trained at Caulfield, she is going well and she has a frame of a five-year-old bull, not a mare,” Freedman said.

“With 52.5kg she is going to be hard to beat — but, you know, they all get beat.”

Chasing his fifth Caulfield Cup victory, Freedman said Exospheric had regained the 10kg he had lost on the flight from England.

“He’s a lightly framed horse but he’s doing extremely well,” he said.

He was encouraged by Exospheric’s effort in the 2080m Group 1 Juddmonte International, where he was fifth to British champion Postponed.

“It was the same race that Criterion ran in last year and we saw what Criterion did in the spring last year,” he said.

“He’s (Exospheric) got form around Scottish and he’s got form around Sir Isaac Newton.

The Lee Freedman-trained Exosphere has a nibble. Picture: Mark Stewart

“There is not a lot between these horses and it is who gets there and gets around Caulfield all right.”

Damien Oliver will ride ­Exospheric on Tuesday in his final piece of serious work.

Freedman was not placing much credence in Our Ivanhowe’s eighth to Hartnell in the 2000m Turnbull Stakes.

“Not a lot of horses made up ground,” he said.

“The first six around the corner were the first six home, so I’m sort of dismissing that a bit, particularly under those conditions.

“Back to handicap conditions, back to where he ran well last year, I can’t see why there’s any reason why he won’t run well.”

[e-mail]

$3m CAULFIELD CUP

Caulfield, Saturday

1 PREFERMENT C Waller H Bowman 57kg

2 OUR IVANHOWE L & A Freedman D Dunn 56.5kg

3 EXOSPHERIC L & A Freedman D Oliver 55.5kg

4 SCOTTISH C Appleby K McEvoy 55kg

5 SIR ISAAC NEWTON A O’Brien C O’Donoghue 55kg

6 TARZINO M Price C Newitt 54.5kg

7 ALMOONQITH D & B Hayes & T Dabernig M Walker 54kg

8 SIR JOHN HAWKWOOD J P Thompson B Spriggs 53.5kg

9 ARTICUS A Wohler Z Purton 53kg

10 TALLY J O’Shea B Avdulla 53kg

11 JAMEKA C Maher N Hall 52.5kg

12 REAL LOVE D Weir C Williams 52.5kg

13 SET SQUARE C Maher M Dee (a) 52kg

14 BIG MEMORY T McEvoy C Parnham 51.5kg

15 SACRED MASTER C Waller T Berry 51.5kg

16 FANATIC G Sanders D Yendall 50.5kg

17 PEMBERLEY C Maher B Allen (a) 50.5kg

18 GO DREAMING G Kluske Ms K Mallyon 50.5kg

19e DE LITTLE ENGINE D O’Brien B E Thompson (a) 50.5kg

20e VENGEUR MASQUE M Moroney P Moloney 50.5kg

BETTING: TAB FIXED ODDS

Hartnell thunders to victory in the Turnbull Stakes. Picture: AAP

Hartnell’s sighter

HARTNELL will make the first move in his Cox Plate war with Winx, with the Godolphin star set to gallop at Moonee Valley on Thursday morning.

Winx, a $1.90 TAB favourite to defend her Cox Plate crown, could venture to the Valley on Saturday for her first look at the track since last year’s win.

Club officials hope both horses will gallop at next Tuesday’s Breakfast with the Best.

Moonee Valley chief executive Michael Browell said nearly 85 per cent of Cox Plate tickets had been sold and a “comfortable capacity” of about 30,000 was expected for the October 22 meeting.

“We’re hoping to pre-sell all tickets and at 30,000 we would be able to provide everyone on track with a good experience,” he said.

Godolphin is set to take Hartnell, the $3 second Cox Plate pick, and stablemates Hauraki and Holler to the Valley on Thursday morning.

Hartnell hasn’t been back since running fifth to Winx in last year’s Cox Plate.

With Russell Gould