New Zealand-bred mare Eskimo Queen seized outright favouritism for the Caulfield Cup after overcoming a rocky run to finish fourth in the Group One Underwood Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
TAB Sportsbet tightened the Mike Moroney-trained four-year-old to $7.50 for the Cup (2400m) on October 20, aheadof another Kiwi bred, the Graeme Rogerson-trained Efficient ($8).
"We just need luck from here on in but she looks up to these better horses without any doubt," trans-Tasman trainer Moroney said.
He bemoaned Eskimo Queen's luck in the running on Saturday when she was checked with 1300m to run and another 1000m later, before finishing solidly to be only 3.9 lengths behind upset winner Rubiscent.
The worst check was at the 300m when mounting a strong run between horses, before hitting a brick wall in the form of King Of Ashford which shifted ground along with champion mare Miss Finland.
"It's hard to know how close she would have gone but she appeared to be going better than Miss Finland at the time. It definitely cost her third place at least," Moroney said.
Rubiscent ($41) avoided trouble and shot away early in the run home to win by 1 1/4 lengths from Cox Plate favourite Miss Finland ($2.05), with Western Australian-trained Marasco third.
Rival jockeys Craig Williams (Miss Finland) and Darren Beadman (Marasco) had a running battle in the back straight aboard the two favourites, with Eskimo Queen suffering her check at the 1300m when she was used, in Moroney's words, as a "dodgem".
The Underwood was the four-year-old Shinko King mare's biggest test to date and she started a $12 third favourite with bookmakers.
She will now press on to the Group One Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on October 6 as her final Caulfield Cup lead-up.
Meanwhile, there was disappointment for the Moroney stable in the day's other Group One feature when Jokers Wild ran 11 lengths last to Bon Hoffa in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m).
He raced three wide, just off the pace, after drawing at 20 and jockey Greg Childs said he suffered a "decent bump" and gave up.
