THE rank and file have rallied to resurrect Weekend Hussler's reputation, with the horse of the year roaring back into favouritism for Saturday's Caulfield Cup.
Weekend Hussler, untested over the toughest 2400-metre course in the country, was beaten as odds-on favourite last time out over 2000m but that didn't stop a legion of supporters weighing in after yesterday's draw in which he was allotted barrier 11.
The overwhelming support meant the seven-time group 1 winner's emphatic conqueror, Littorio, which drew alongside in barrier 10, eased to second favourite for the $2.5 million slugfest.
"We cannot keep punters off Weekend Hussler," Tab Sportsbet's Glenn Munsie said yesterday. "We were $6 this morning but after the draw, all he has done is firm. We took $75,000 on the race today, and half has been on Weekend Hussler. He is in to $4.80 and he will start favourite. It is all about volume, and he is proving what a popular horse he is with the public."
Sportingbet supremo Michael Sullivan had similar reports. "They are not huge bets, just loads of them," Sullivan said. "His army has rallied, the rank and file have come for the horse considered the best in the land."
Weekend Hussler's jockey, Brad Rawiller, was hammered for sitting three wide without cover in the Turnbull Stakes, when Littorio charged home to win, with last year's Caulfield Cup winner Master O'Reilly an eye-catching second. "Come Saturday, he [Rawiller] won't be Mr Nice Guy any more," Weekend Hussler's trainer Ross McDonald said after the 11am barrier draw.
While McDonald is a two-time Caulfield Cup-winning trainer, Littorio's mentor Nigel Blackiston admitted it was the biggest race of his life. He said he hoped he had left enough in the tank for the main goal of winning the Melbourne Cup.
Trainer Mark Kavanagh was not worried by barrier 18 for last year's raging favourite, Maldivian, which was scratched at the barriers after rearing and gashing its neck on audio equipment. Kavanagh has fitted a cross-over nose band and tongue tie to the rampaging frontrunner. "I think he is back to where he was last year with the addition of the gear changes," he said. "It is really to make sure he breathes through his nose instead of his mouth."
For another two-time cup-winning trainer, David Hayes, the draw was mixed, with Zagreb drawing seven and Guillotine out in 21 while troubled stablemate Kibbutz will be launched from five. "He [Guillotine] is a horse I would have loved to have drawn inside," Hayes said. "He would have spent the first half of the race resting. Now we are going to spend the first half of the race praying."
Zagreb thrilled Hayes in a track gallop at Flemington on Tuesday morning, and blinkers have been added to the horse, which charged home to win the Naturalism Stakes then was found to have swallowed a clod of grass when down the track in the Turnbull Stakes. "You forgive him the one run, and he is right in it from the seven," Hayes said.
As for Kibbutz, Hayes informed Racing Victoria stewards yesterday an abscess had burst on the Victoria Derby winner's off-fore leg. Kibbutz's leg has been encased in a therapeutic boot and will be shod as late as possible.
"[If the race was run] today, he wouldn't be in the race, but he hasn't missed any work," Hayes assured. "We are able to work him on the training treadmill."
RV chief steward Terry Bailey said the horse would be vetted before scratching time on Saturday. He also confirmed its blood would be scrutinised after it had an elevated temperature following an equine influenza injection.
Master O'Reilly's jockey Vlad Duric picked up a miniature BMW to reveal the Danny O'Brien-trained gelding would be launched from barrier 13 in the cup. "I'm comfortable with it, he is a get-back horse anyway," Duric said. "We just need something to take us up into the field and he'll be very strong at the finish.
"His work was very good on Tuesday morning. I was very, very pleased with the horse. I'm super confident … they'll know he is in the race."
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