Wow! The Caulfield Stakes has turned Cups theories on their head! What happened to the much-hyped Lion Tamer? The $2.60 fav loomed up wide on the turn but was a spent force in the final 300m and ran 8th of the 9 runners - trailed in by another flop, Alcopop $8.00. Last year's Caulfield Cup winner Descarado $13.00, not in the race again this year, scored a narrow win and is now Cox Plate bound. Descradao beat Avienus by three quarters of a length with Light of Heaven 1.5 lens away 3rd.Michael Rod

Wow! The Caulfield Stakes has turned Cups theories on their head! What happened to the much-hyped Lion Tamer? The $2.60 fav loomed up wide on the turn but was a spent force in the final 300m and ran 8th of the 9 runners - trailed in by another flop, Alcopop $8.00. Last year's Caulfield Cup winner Descarado $13.00, not in the race again this year, scored a narrow win and is now Cox Plate bound. Descradao beat Avienus by three quarters of a length with Light of Heaven 1.5 lens away 3rd.

Michael Rodd was less than happy with Lion Tamer's tame performance. He says: 'He was off the bridle the whole race...He's got a few tricks and I don't think he really put in today so trainer Murray Baker is going to put a set of blinkers on him and see if we can spark him up.'

Big hits...Black Caviar - Schillaci Stakes ($25,000 @ $1.06, $13,000 @ $1.06, $10,000 @ $1.06, $13,000 @ $1.07, $9,000 @ $1.07) Helmet - Caulfield Guineas ($100,000 in bets @ an average of $2.30, $15,000 @ $2.40, $16,000 @ $2.25, $20,000 @ $2.45, $12,000 @ $2.20, $10,000 @ $2.20) King Mufhasa - Toorak Handicap ($3,000 @ $11, $1,000 @ $10, $1,000 @ $9) Descarado - Caulfield Stakes ($3,000 @ $15, $2,000 @ $15, $1,000 @ $14)

Winner Helmet was clearly the punters' choice in the Caulfield Guineas. $100,000 in bets at an average price of $2.30 came rushing in late for the three-year-old, who didn't let his supporters down. TAB Sportsbet then slashed his odds to win the Cox Plate in a fortnight, halving his quote from $7.50 into $3.50. He is now the outright favourite having displaced Jimmy Choux, who remains solid at $4.40.

LATEST CAULFIELD CUP MARKET

DECEMBER DRAW 2.80 1.45
MIDAS TOUCH 8.50 2.87
AT FIRST SIGHT 10.00 3.25
LUCAS CRANACH 11.00 3.50
ABSOLUTELY 15.00 4.50
GLASS HARMONIUM 17.00 5.00
MIGHTY HIGH 19.00 5.50
MOURAYAN 26.00 7.25
ALCOPOP 26.00 7.25
LIGHTS OF HEAVEN 26.00 7.25
DRUNKEN SAILOR 26.00 7.25
SHAMROCKER 26.00 7.25
PRECEDENCE 26.00 7.25