Australia: Without A Fight wins a thriller in the Caulfield Cup

Without A Fight, who was not cleared by veterinarians until Friday, made a late, six-wide charge and outdueled West Wind Blows to win by a head Saturday in the nail-biting, 146th running of the Group 1, US$3.15 million Caulfield Cup, the first of the three biggest races in the Melbourne Spring Carnival.

An Ireland-bred, 6-year-old gelding sired by Teofilo and owned by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, Without A Fight (8-1) was reported to have looked lame in his left front leg Thursday. He needed the approval of a Racing Victoria veterinary panel before he was allowed to go forward in Saturday’s race that covered 2,400 meters, about 15 yards short of 1 1/2 miles, on turf rated good.

Jockey Mark Zahra, who had to decide Saturday between riding Without A Fight and 2022 Melbourne Cup (G1) winner Gold Trip, made the right choice for his second victory in the Caulfield Cup. His first with Verry Elleegant came in 2020, when COVID restrictions left the grandstand empty.

Anthony Freedman, brother of four-time Caulfield Cup winner Lee Freedman, teamed with his son Sam to train his first victor in what is billed as the richest, 1 1/2-mile turf handicap in the world.

Starting from post 7 in the field of 18 horses ages 3 and up, Without A Fight was in mid-pack going past the wire for the first time. He stayed there along the rail going up the backstretch around the teardrop-shaped, left-turn course.

Zahra tipped Without A Fight outside in the sweeping, far turn as the field closed in on early pacesetter Bois d’Argent (89-1) approaching the 350-yard homestretch. Four-year-old West Wind Blows, another Teofilo gelding, already had made up the most ground with a stalking trip after he and Jamie Spencer got out of the gate slowly from post 2.

As West Wind Blows flashed past Right You Are (41-1) and into the lead with a furlong to go, Without A Fight was approaching on his outside about 1 1/2 lengths back and making up ground quickly.

In the last sixteenth of a mile, Spencer veered West Wind Blows a path out for an eyeball-to-eyeball duel. Without A Fight did not flinch, finally getting a nose in front in the last 50 yards of what turned out to be a victorious trip.

Without A Fight carried 122 pounds in his first Group 1 victory. Second-place West Wind Blows, with 119, finished two lengths ahead of late-closing Gold Trip (5-1), the top-weight entry at 129 who settled for third. Bois d’Argent was another 1 3/4 lengths back in fourth.

The winning time was 2:26.45, the fastest running of the Caulfield Cup since Master O’Reilly’s 2:26.15 in 2007.

Gold Trip was touch and go to start Saturday after trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace had said they were worried about the ground not being soft enough. Now with his impressive, third-place performance, he has shortened to odds of 4-1 at Ladbrokes Australia to repeat Nov. 7 in the Melbourne Cup. Ireland-based stayer Vauban, a Royal Ascot winner who is 6: 3-2-1 going at least the two-mile distance of the US$5.05 million race, is the 7-2 favorite.

The 1 1/4-mile, $3.15 million Cox Plate (G1), widely regarded as the southern hemisphere’s best weight-for-age race, is the next major race of the Spring Carnival. It will be run next Saturday at Moonee Valley.