Racing: Cup favourite happy with barrier

Johannes Vermeer does trackwork at Werribee in his lead-up to Saturday's Caulfield Cup. Photo / Getty Images

Inside barriers are not always a blessing in the Caulfield Cup, but the Johannes Vermeer team would not swap theirs for any other in Saturdays A$3 million race.

The Aidan OBrien-trained galloper claimed favouritism for the 2400m handicap after drawing barrier two at Tuesday nights allocation of starting positions.

Drawing low has been the undoing of many Northern Hemisphere-trained visitors in the charge to the first turn, but OBriens travelling foreman T.J. Comerford said it was ideal for the son of Galileo, who will be ridden by Ben Melham.

I texted him [OBrien] straight away and he was very happy with it, Comerford said from Werribee yesterday morning.

When you see how well he jumped out the last start at Caulfield, he was smart out, so all he has to do is be as smart out and then he can just slot in wherever we want and we can take our time on him.

Tawqeet, in 2006, was the most recent Caulfield Cup winner to start from barrier two, but it has been a race for those drawn in the second half of the field of late with five of the past eight having started from double-digit gates.

A $15 chance in the Caulfield Cup before Saturday, Johannes Vermeer caught the eye of many in the G1 Caulfield Stakes (2000m) when he flashed home for second to Gailo Chop, who is now second favourite in the Cox Plate behind Winx.

Comerford said the Caulfield Stakes performance was not unexpected and he was trying not to get caught up in the hype around the five-year-old entire, who heads CrownBets Cup market at $4.60.

Hes come out of the race very good, hes benefitted from that run, Comerford said after watching Johannes Vermeer take part in his most strenuous piece of work this week, a light 1500m gallop with The Taj Mahal on the Werribee synthetic track.

- Racing.com