MELBOURNE: Warrnambool trainers Bill and Symon Wilde expect they won't know until final acceptances next Tuesday whether Baughurst will line up in the Caulfield Cup, but a leading corporate bookmaker believes he will have a start stitched up by tonight.
Baughurst would gain an automatic Cup start if he winstoday's Yalumba Stakes at Caulfield but Symon Wilde accepts it is an unlikely scenario with Cox Plate favourite Whobegotyou and Underwood Stakes winner Heart Of Dreams in the field.
"He's drawn beautifully, it is a small field and he's going to get a nice run but we are not really expecting him to win," Wilde said.
Baughurst is equal 23rd in the order of the elimination for the Caulfield Cup, which is limited to 18 runners with four emergencies.
Stablemate Hissing Sid is equal 28th but would exempt himself from the Caulfield Cup ballot if he can win today's Group Two Herbert Power Stakes (2400m).
IASbet.com bookmaker Mark Read believes Baughurst, who is A$13 in most markets, will win the Yalumba, likening him to last year's shock winner Douro Valley.
"A lot of his [Baughurst's] opposition still have the Cox Plate on their agenda and he represents great value sitting up front with absolutely no early pace, and the favourites back in the field," Read said.
In what was a change of plans, Godolphin's Kirklees and Crime Scene worked for the second day in a row at Sandown on Thursday morning.
Travelling foreman Tommy Strang said after their 1600m workout on Wednesday the two would have a quiet day off the track on Thursday but they were kept ticking over with a 1200m jog.
Kerrin McEvoy, who won last year's Caulfield Cup on All The Good for Godolphin, will ride Kirklees in his final lead-up gallop to the Cup at Sandown on Monday. McEvoy was expected to be confirmed as the rider for Kirklees in the Caulfield Cup next Saturday as Godolphin's No 1 jockey, Frankie Dettori, is likely to remain in England for the Champions Day meeting at Newmarket.
The Luca Cumani-trained Cima De Triomphe, who will be ridden by Damien Oliver in the Caulfield Cup, and stablemate Basaltico worked separately in two 1000m canters on Thursday morning.
