Caulfield Cup winner Admire Rakti rounded out his Melbourne Cup preparation with a solid workout at Werribee.
The $4 favourite for Australia’s greatest race, Admire Rakti galloped over 1400m, coming home the last 800m in 49.34secs, the last 400m in 23.39secs, on Friday morning.
A win by Admire Rakti would give Japan a second Melbourne Cup win after the success of Delta Blues in 2006.
Admire Rakti
Trainer Tomoyuki Umeda, who was at Werribee to watch the gallop, insists Admire Rakti will be a better horse at Flemington than he was in winning the Caulfield Cup.
Admire Rakti raced three wide at Caulfield under Zac Purton and was forced deeper on the home turn before chasing down Rising Romance.
He was penalised 0.5kg for his victory in the Caulfield Cup with Umeda insisting the entire already had a tough enough task to win with the 58kg alloted from the original handicap.
“I think 58kg is already heavy and half-a-kilo still heavier,” said Umeda through an interpreter.
“But the owner (Richie Kondo) appreciates that it’s the fair judge of (handicapper) Mr Carpenter.”
Umeda said Admire Rakti had recovered well from his Caulfield Cup victory and was given a few easy days before having his worked stepped up to be ready for a 3200-metre race.
