Racing: Weight pointer for Cups salutes

Vigor showed he was the weight horse for the Caulfield Cup when he scored a bob-of-the-head victory over the favourite Typhoon Tracy in the Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington on Saturday.

The O'Reilly 5-year-old received only 51kg in the Caulfield Cup (2400m) on October 17, representing 8kg below weight-for-age.

"He's a very, very good racehorse. Obviously we've never tested him against the quality opposition until today but we were quietly confident he could take that step," Flemington trainer Danny O'Brien said on Saturday.

"It was very important that he won today because he wouldn't have been guaranteed a run in the Caulfield Cup.

"It's ballot free, he's the first horse into the race with 51kg and he can't be penalised for it.

"We've been patient with him, kept him away from the handicapper and now the wrapping is off."

Ridden by Damien Oliver, Vigor ($8.50) did plenty of work after drawing barrier 11 in the 12-horse field but still managed to have his head in front on the line and won by a nose from Typhoon Tracy ($2.60 fav) who sat off race leader Maco'reilly.

Oliver, who has ridden four Caulfield Cup winners, said he would be considering riding Vigor in the big race despite his light weight.

The champion jockey rode at 54.5kg at Flemington on Saturday.

"If they can win with 59kg and they drop to 51kg it's pretty compelling," he said.

O'Brien's 2007 Caulfield Cup winner Master O'Reilly ($71) worked home strongly after being ninth in running to finish 1 lengths away third.

He said Vigor was potentially the best horse he had trained after the group two 1600m victory which he went into second-up after a third over 1200m at Caulfield last month.

"He has a similar profile to horses such as Master O'Reilly, Barbaricus and Gallopin," he said.

"But none of those horses was able to win at weight-for-age this early in the spring."

The trainer aimed Vigor at a spring Cups campaign after he won five straight races from 1600m to 2520m from October last year to January.

He gave him just the one run in the autumn for a second to Chasm in the listed Auckland RC Stakes (1610m) at Flemington on April 25.

That was his only defeat in six runs on his home track. "He'll probably go to the Underwood and then the Turnbull," O'Brien said.

He said Master O'Reilly might go straight to the Turnbull Stakes after his excellent first-up effort.

"It was obviously his best ever first-up run. He struggled on the wet ground in Sydney but he's had a real spring in his step this campaign," O'Brien said.

"I wasn't surprised to see him run well, but I was really surprised to see him run that well."

Predatory Pricer ($3.80) disappointed in finishing seventh but his rider Steven King said he did a lot wrong in the race, while Melbourne Cup placegetter C'est La Guerre ($31) and Heart Of Dreams ($5.50) put in solid efforts, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

- AAP