Blacker bets on a Melbourne Cup victor to lead Skyphios to victory

While Mornington trainer Rob Blacker would have preferred Harry Coffey to stay on Skyphios for Saturday's 3YO Cranbourne Classic, he has no complaints about the replacement rider. Mark Zahra, winner of the Melbourne Cup, will ride the son of Fiorente for the first time in the $175,000 contest. After hearing that Coffey would be riding the Patrick Payne-trained Dunkel in the 2025-meter race, Blacker consulted the owners, who were pleased to have Gold Trip's rider sitting on the bench.

“I think they (jockey managers) all must have rung around and found out Harry was riding the other horse, so we got a few calls and I just said to the owners, ‘all these blokes have rung, tell me who you want’,” Blacker said. “They said, ‘well, Zahra’s in-form’, and I said, ‘yes he is’,” he added with a laugh.

In the nine-horse field, Zahra and Skyphios will break from post position two, with the odds-on favourite being Dunkel, with whom Coffey made a spectacular debut win at The Valley. Skyphios is coming into the 3YO Cranbourne Classic off a disappointing 12th place finish in the Gr.1 Victoria Derby, a race in which trainer Darren Blacker speculated that his horse may not be a stayer. The Gr.1 Caulfield Guineas and the Gr.2 Moonee Valley Vase on Cox Plate Day were his only other two starts since he won the Byerly Handicap as a 3YO in July.