Deakin is set to progress to the Melbourne Cup despite feeling the effects of a failed Caulfield Cup run.
Trainer Phillip Stokes was pleased to report the former Irish gelding was brighter on Monday morning after finding the pressure and 2400-metre course of the Caulfield Cup 48 hours earlier not to his liking.
“He felt the run,” Stokes said on Monday. “It was a hard race and he had a hard run. We’ve got him back at the farm now, but he’ll keep going to the Melbourne Cup.
“It’s a high-pressure race and he copped a bit of interference mid-race and a horse was laying over him which he didn’t appreciate and being beaten three lengths, I think he went OK.
“The bigger track (Flemington) will be better for him. He ate up better this morning. Sunday morning he was a bit flat but he’s on the improve this morning.”
The imported Deakin was one of the best backed horses in the Caulfield Cup, eventually starting the fourth favourite at $13.
The above is an excerpt from Andrew Eddy’s Racing.com article and can be read here.