THE O'Leary brothers are relaxed about the horror draw allocated to Who Shot Thebarman in Saturday's A$3.5 million ($3.79 million) Caulfield Cup in Melbourne.
Who Shot Thebarman drew barrier 21 with only his stablemate, Royal Descent, outside him in 22. One saving grace is all four emergencies have drawn insidealleys, so if they come out on raceday, positions change accordingly.
Micheal and Shaun O'Leary will travel to Melbourne to watch their charge live, while Humphrey and Dan will be glued to the television at home on Saturday.
"No worries," Humphrey O'Leary said yesterday, echoing his brothers' feelings about the draw. "Dunaden won it from 20 in 2012 and as Lee Freedman (top Aussie trainer) famously said, 'draws don't matter after 50 metres'. Who Shot Thebarman can jump and settle back and find a possie one off the fence - that's what we pay the jockey for."
Expat Kiwi trainer Chris Waller said in an email on Tuesday "all systems are go".
"Chris said he's rapt with the horse. He said he completed a 'lovely piece of work' yesterday (Tuesday) morning on the course proper at Flemington. Blake (jockey Blake Shinn) was really happy with his work," O'Leary said.
Form-wise, Who Shot Thebarman ran seventh in the Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes when resuming and fifth next up in the Group 2 Hill Stakes in Sydney before running eighth, four lengths from the winner, in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes at his first appearance in Melbourne this campaign.
"The Turnbull was a strong form race and he wasn't far from them over 2000m. Now he's stepping up to distances he loves. He loves handicap races and 2400m and 3200m events. They pay back to 10th in the Caulfield Cup so we're hoping he's among that lot and running on. The Melbourne Cup on November 3 has always been his main mission," O'Leary said.
