2023 Caulfield Cup: Without A Fight to trial at Mornington ahead of Group 1 feature

Caulfield Cup hope Without A Fight will go a month between runs heading into the Group 1 Caulfield Cup. Picture: Scott Barbour/Racing Photos via Getty Images

A 1600m jumpout on Wednesday will form part of an unusual Caulfield Cup lead-up for equal favourite Without A Fight.

Without A Fight is a $6 chance in Caulfield Cup betting alongside Turnbull Stakes placegetter West Wind Blows and in-form galloper Soulcombe.

The Turnbull Stakes is recognised as a key race in a Caulfield Cup campaign but trainers Anthony and Sam Freedman decided to bypass the race with Without A Fight, who showed he had returned in good order with his solid sixth in the Group 1 Underwood Stakes on September 23.

ALLIGATOR BLOOD GOES BACK TO BACK IN THE UNDERWOOD! ????@GaiWaterhouse1pic.twitter.com/v5pRZwyYrD

— 7HorseRacing ???? (@7horseracing) September 23, 2023

Sam Freedman said that effort, when finishing two lengths from the winner Alligator Blood, showed Without A Fight did not need another run before the Caulfield Cup.

"We're just going to go a month between runs because we didn't want to trot him out every fortnight," Freedman said.

"Once we made the decision to go to the Caulfield Cup, it made sense to go straight there.

"Initially, the Turnbull Stakes was going to be a fork in the road, but we opted, straight after the Underwood, to make the Caulfield Cup his target.

"We probably felt the month between runs kept some sharpness in him."

Race rider Mark Zahra will head to Mornington to ride Without A Fight in the jumpout, which will be the penultimate piece of serious work for the import before the Melbourne Cup.

"The trial will just be a mile trial to stretch his legs," Freedman said.

"We'll get the trial into him on Wednesday and one final piece of work at Flemington next week and he'll be good to go."

Without A Fight takes out the Q22!

He puts two impressive wins together at just his third Australian start. pic.twitter.com/yGGIZ3mtm7

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 10, 2023

The Freedman camp was lukewarm during the stayer's successful winter campaign about giving Without A Fight another shot at the Melbourne Cup, in which he finished 13th last year.

However, Freedman said Without A Fight could again find himself at Flemington on the first Tuesday in November if he ran up to expectations in the Caulfield Cup.

"If you look at his run in the Melbourne Cup last year, he basically travelled up to them at the 350(m) and his wheels spun in the heavy ground," Freedman said.

"Whether he's effective over two miles, there's a little query but he's run well over a trip in England.

"That's another reason to go straight to a Caulfield Cup, the opportunity to go to a Melbourne Cup if he ran really well.

"He's probably on his right mark (55.5kg) to be a leading chance."