New 2017 Caulfield Cup favourite Humidor won’t be spared from a run against the country’s best horse Winx in the Turnbull Stakes with trainer Darren Weir sticking to original spring plans with the dual Group 1 winner.
2017 Caulfield Cup favourite Humidor is set to face Winx for the first time in Flemington’s Turnbull Stakes on October 7. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.
This week Chris Waller announced that Winx was likely to make her Flemington race debut on October 7 having her final Ladbrokes Cox Plate lead-up race in the Group 1 $500,000 Turnbull Stakes (2000m).
That hasn’t deterred Weir from remaining on the Turnbull Stakes path with his in-form Teofilo five-year-old Humidor who is as yet to face the champion mare.
“We are not changing anything, Humidor is definitely going to the Turnbull and then on the Caulfield Cup,” Weir told Racing Victoria.
“We obviously respect Winx but you can’t just change your plans for one horse.”
Formerly raced in New Zealand, Humidor is now a dual Group 1 winner who has a definite affinity for the famous Flemington track.
In the autumn he took out the Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) to break his maiden status down under, defeating last year’s Caulfield Cup winner Jameka.
A second to that same mare who turned the tables in Sydney followed next-up for Humidor when he was well-beaten in the wet at Rosehill in the Group 1 The BMW (2400m).
In his first victory since the Australian Guineas, the galloper relished a return to Flemington last Saturday where he scored a notable upset win by over three lengths to beat the odds-on favourite Hartnell (2nd) and his better-fancied stablemate Black Heart Bart (3rd) as a $12 shot in the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m).
Humidor will now attempt to add a third Flemington Group 1 win to his name in the Turnbull Stakes on way to his major spring assignment, the Group 1 $3 million BMW Caulfield Cup (2400m) on October 21.
After winning the Makybe Diva Stakes, Humidor shot to the top of futures Caulfield Cup betting at Ladbrokes.com.au and is paying $6 for the win ahead of Dato’ Tan Chin Nam Stakes winning Kiwi mare Bonneval ($7).
The Turnbull Stakes has proved the Caulfield Cup form race to follow in recent years producing five winners of the mile and a half classic since 2009 including Jameka (2nd in 2016) last year.
The Turnbull Stakes – Caulfield Cup double though hasn’t been completed since Elvstoem (2004).
Humidor may be Weir’s sole runner in the Turnbull Stakes field in 2017 with Black Heart Bart and Gailo Chop more likely to run the Sunday prior at Caulfield in the Group 1 $750,000 Underwood Stakes (1800m).
To check out the latest odds on Humidor in the Caulfield Cup 2017 and for the Winx odds as she attempts a third straight Cox Plate triumph visit Ladbrokes.com.au today.
