Plans for UK trainer Luca Cumani's spring hopefuls Drunken Sailor and Manighar will become clearer after tomorrow's third declarations for the $2.6m Caulfield Cup. Cumani's travelling foreman Charlie Henson said the stable were still hopeful Drunken Sailor could make the Caulfield Cup field on Saturday week, 16 October despite the gelding being equal 29th in the elimination order for the 2400-metre handicap. "My feeling is that the Caulfield Cup would be a better lead-up to the Melbourne Cu

Plans for UK trainer Luca Cumani's spring hopefuls Drunken Sailor and Manighar will become clearer after tomorrow's third declarations for the $2.6m Caulfield Cup. Cumani's travelling foreman Charlie Henson said the stable were still hopeful Drunken Sailor could make the Caulfield Cup field on Saturday week, 16 October despite the gelding being equal 29th in the elimination order for the 2400-metre handicap. "My feeling is that the Caulfield Cup would be a better lead-up to the Melbourne Cup than the Geelong Cup which is our other option," Henson said. The Grp 3 Geelong Cup (2400m), which has become an increasingly popular path into the Melbourne Cup for international horses, is run on 20 October, 13 days before the Melbourne Cup. Henson said Manighar, who is equal 11th in the Caulfield Cup order of entry, would definitely run in the race, while stablemate Becqu Adoree, the third member of Cumani's team currently in Melbourne, was likely to run in the Grp 3 David Jones Cup (2000m) on Caulfield Cup day.

The final member of the Cumani team, 2008 Melbourne Cup runner-up Bauer, will arrive in Melbourne on Saturday with the next wave of European spring contenders. Francesca Cumani, daughter of Luca, is due in Melbourne from South Africa on Thursday. Her mother Sara will arrive the following day to oversee the team with Henson.

Racing Victoria Chief Handicapper Greg Carpenter has issued a 2kg penalty to Herculian Prince following his dominant victory in the Grp 1 Metropolitan Handicap (2600m) at Randwick on Saturday. The penalty takes his weight to 53.5kg in both the BMW Caulfield Cup and Emirates Melbourne Cup and within striking distance of a start in the Spring Racing Carnival features