By GREG TOURELLE
The jury is still out on King's Chapel as a 2000m horse but he is to run in the Cox Plate after finishing fourth in the Yalumba Stakes at Caulfield.
Matamata trainer Mark Walker said from a Cox Plate (2040m) perspective he couldn't get a line on the horse
because of track conditions and a track bias.
There was a clear bias for leaders on the inside at Caulfield on Saturday and this suited the first two home in the group one Yalumba, Mummify and Grand Armee.
King's Chapel and Starcraft both got back in the running but ran on well to finish fourth and third respectively.
Walker said the track was also shifty and that didn't suit King's Chapel who was having his first run at 2000m.
He had been back in the field on the inside until rider Darren Beadman hooked him out at the top of the straight and at the 200m mark he looked as though he might swoop past Mummify and Grand Armee.
But in the final 100m he just battled and was passed by Starcraft in the final few strides.
Walker told NZPA yesterday: "He just didn't accelerate in that ground.
"At the 200 I thought he was going to go whoosh, and he went about four strides and then just whacked away.
"But it was still a very good run, with three horses of that calibre in front on him, it's nothing to be ashamed of is it?
"He is right on the heels of the first two favourites for the Cox Plate."
Beadman confirmed that King's Chapel was not comfortable.
"He didn't like the track," Beadman said. "It was a bit soft and he failed to run out the 2000 metres."
Walker admitted there was still a query over the distance for King's Chapel, but the conditions had to be factored in.
"He prefers ground like concrete," Walker said. "We have gone this far and the horse has pulled up well, so we will keep going for the Cox and see where it takes us."
He has not yet discussed with Beadman whether the champion Sydney jockey will ride him in the Cox Plate. Beadman will ride Walker's other stable star, Distinctly Secret, in the Caulfield Cup.
The Yalumba was a great Caulfield Cup trial for Mummify, who gave trainer Lee Freedman his 100th group one win.
The horse will attempt to become the first since Rising Fast in 1954-55 to win consecutive Caulfield Cups.
Ming Dynasty won two Caulfield Cups (1977 and 1980) but only Rising Fast and Poseidon (1906-07) have won consecutive cups. Said Freedman: "He is such a good stayer and that is what won him the race today.
"I think he's going every bit as good as he was last year and maybe even better, so it's hard not to get confident about his chances next week."
Starcraft's owner Paul Makin intimated Starcraft was not a champion after his effort for third, saying "Tulloch would have won it."
But as a horse who prefers to settle back in the field, he had little chance of winning, spotting the leading division up to 15 lengths at the 800m.
He ran the fastest final 800m, with a time of 48.7 seconds. Jockey Glen Boss declared it: "The greatest Cox Plate trial you'd ever see."
New Zealand's other horse in the race, St Reims, was responsible for the fast early pace and though he was passed by Grand Armee with 200m to run, he battled away for sixth, 4 1/2 lengths from Mummify.
St Reims' trainer Chris McNab said: "It wasn't a bad run but he prefers a rock hard track.
St Reims will have one more Melbourne run, in the Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington..
- NZPA
By GREG TOURELLE
The jury is still out on King's Chapel as a 2000m horse but he is to run in the Cox Plate after finishing fourth in the Yalumba Stakes at Caulfield.
Matamata trainer Mark Walker said from a Cox Plate (2040m) perspective he couldn't get a line on the horse
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