Darryl Sherer
Darren Weir is more worried about Humidor’s weight than he is about the New Zealand-bred mastering the extreme distance of Tuesday’s Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington.
“The negative is the 56kg, it’s enough, but all the indications say he will stay,” Weir said.
Humidor goes into the Cup off the back of his runner-up finish in the Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley where he momentarily looked like he may have lowered the colours of the champion mare Winx.
“I didn’t really think he would get that close, but he’s such a good horse when he’s ridden the right way and he got a beautiful run in the Cox Plate,” Weir said.
“From a Cup point of view it was a terrific run.”
Humidor had previously finished fifth in the Gr.1 Caulfield Cup (2400m), in which Weir questioned the ride of Damian Lane.
“He elected to roll forward and in my opinion that was the wrong thing to do, but it was still an acceptable run,” he said. “He whacked away all right.
“I’m very happy with the horse and the preparation. The only thing I would change if we had it over again would have been for him to be ridden quieter in the Caulfield Cup.
“We backed him up a week later in the Cox Plate and if he hadn’t run well he wouldn’t be in the (Melbourne) Cup, but he got through the line great.”
Humidor was partnered in the Cox Plate by the in-form Blake Shinn, who will take the mount on Tuesday. – NZ Racing Desk.