TRAINER Mark Kavanagh fears the tactics that assured him victory in the Cox Plate last year with Maldivian could be the undoing of today's favourite Whobegotyou, reports The Age newspaper.It says: New Zealand galloper Sir Slick is in doubt for the race after he was found to be lame in the off-fore hoof yesterday and if he is forced out after a 7.30am veterinary inspection, the race suddenly lacks a natural leader.So much so that Kavanagh yesterday pleaded with jockeys not to repeat the mistakes

TRAINER Mark Kavanagh fears the tactics that assured him victory in the Cox Plate last year with Maldivian could be the undoing of today's favourite Whobegotyou, reports The Age newspaper.

It says: New Zealand galloper Sir Slick is in doubt for the race after he was found to be lame in the off-fore hoof yesterday and if he is forced out after a 7.30am veterinary inspection, the race suddenly lacks a natural leader.

So much so that Kavanagh yesterday pleaded with jockeys not to repeat the mistakes of last year. ''I don't think anybody - any jockey in his right mind - won't let another jockey get away with what Michael Rodd got away with on Maldivian last year. That was just ridiculous,'' he said.

''All the best jockeys in Australia wouldn't let it be run at a walk again, surely. You can't catch the same rabbits twice with the one trap.''

Last year, Rodd urged Maldivian to the lead and once he had secured the front slowed the race down around the back of the course as his rivals were looking around waiting for someone to launch an attack. When it finally came, Rodd and Maldivian had set sail for the line.

''We had guys pressing buttons halfway through the race and 'shit, the bird's flown', and Danny Nikolic on Zipping took off and everyone went mad,'' Kavanagh said. ''Well, it was just too late. They had to make up too much ground.''

Kavanagh said that as the majority of horses in today's race preferred to be ridden quietly early, it was difficult to envisage who would make the pace in the absence of Sir Slick.

''Every time you dissect the race, you can see it run a different way,'' he said. ''The Cox Plate is a notoriously tactical race. You may see someone do something totally out of left field.''