Fame Game is one of the most intriguing horses in the 2015 Caulfield Cup field and there has been plenty of speculation about how he will be ridden in the Group 1 event, but jockey Zac Purton has revealed that he will not make any firm decisions on how he will ride the Japanese stayer until he speaks to connections on Friday.
Purton won the 2014 edition of the race on Japanese stayer Admire Rakti. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
Purton revealed on Monday that he is unsure whether Fame Game has the sharpness to be able to win the 2015 Caulfield Cup and there is an argument to be made that his task became even tougher when he was allocated the easy barrier on Tuesday afternoon.
The Hong Kong-based hoop got Admire Rakti off the rail and allowed him to roll into the race when he took out the 2014 edition of the Caulfield Cup, but Purton refused to commit to similar tactics and he told Racing Active that he is simply keen to keep the Heart’s Cry entire out of trouble in the early stages of the race.
“It is just a matter of trying to keep him out of that scrimmage going to that first corner because the last thing that you want is having him get knocked around and come out of it with bumps and bruises,” Purton said.
“I will be trying to look after him and hopefully he can give me a nice kick.
“I haven’t spoken to the connections at length yet about how we are going to ride him and I am going to have a meeting with them on Friday evening.
“I will be guided by what they want me to do, whether they want me to stay on the fence and ride for luck or whether they leave it up to me and make sure he has a clear run.”
Purton has ridden in Japan on a number of occasions in recent years and he believes, like rival jockey Craig Williams, that fellow Japanese stayer Hokko Brave has been underrated ahead of the 2015 Caulfield Cup.
The talented hoop revealed that he does not think that there is a great deal between Fame Game and Hokko Brave and he feels that the seven-year-old will be advantaged by the fact that he can sit closer to the speed in the early stages of the Caulfield Cup.
“Hokko Brave can take a better position in his races, he can lay-up in a box seat or just a shade further back depending on the speed of the race and he is going to be in the right spot for a race like the Caulfield Cup,” Purton said.
“If they don’t go fast and he is in that right spot he is going to be hard to beat himself.”
Fame Game is back into 2015 Caulfield Cup odds of $10 with Ladbrokes after drifting out to $11 yesterday, while Hokko Brave has remained rock solid at $15.
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