KEY POINTS:
You could have a guess at the class difference between this year's Melbourne Cup and tomorrow's $250,000 Christchurch Casino New Zealand Cup.
You would probably have to start at 10 lengths.
Which puts Young Centaur right in the frame for victory at Riccarton if a couple of good judges are even close to the money.
Melbourne's Lloyd Williams and local owner Gerrard Peterson both tried to put together syndicates which would have offered John Sargent and his fellow owners a deal whereby they paid no expenses to get to Melbourne and took half whatever Melbourne Cup stakemoney Young Centaur earned.
"The deals couldn't quite be put together in time - it all came up a bit too soon," said Sargent yesterday.
Part of the attraction for Williams and Gerrard, both well accustomed to Melbourne Cup success, was that the horses between sixth and 10th at Flemington received more than double what it cost to get a horse from New Zealand to Melbourne.
Young Centaur was a real chance to finish inside the 10 in the Melbourne Cup, which puts him in this race with a great opportunity.
He devastated January's Wellington Cup field and although 56.5kg is as much as any horse needs over 3200m, his superior staying gives him an edge over most in this field.
Young Centaur has had only three races this preparation, which seems an exceptionally light build-up for a tough 3200m, but he has never required a great deal of hard work and John Sargent knows him well.
"I haven't raced him for a month for reasons of weight. He couldn't afford to have won another race and get a re-handicap."
Sargent said as a result he has carefully monitored each step in training because he hasn't been able to judge the horse on recent racing.
"He's in the same order as he was for the Wellington Cup," said Sargent.
Young Centaur's only other 3200m start resulted in him being unable to handle the wet track for the Auckland Cup in March.
John Wheeler received encouragement for the Cup when Stand Tall won the leadup 2500m at Riccarton last Saturday. And he was even happier when it became clear the horse had not jarred up with the victory.
"There was a little bit of give in the track on the first day and he's come out of it brilliantly.
"They can get away with a race on a very firm track one time, but not if they've already had a hard track race and are feeling their legs a bit."
Wheeler says he has worked Stand Stall with Juice at Woodend Beach this week and the pair have thrived on the salt water treatment.
"He's done enormous."
Being by Zabeel from a dual Oaks winner, Stand Tall has all the background he needs for distance racing.
Halls was a bit stiff finishing third to Stand Tall last week, later being promoted to second.
The extra distance should suit.
