Bob Peters - owner of Caulfield Cup favourite Cosmic Crusader is cautious about his star horse’s chances on Saturday in the feature at Caulfield.

Peters joined SENTrack and RSN's Giddy Up with Gareth Hall to discuss the six-year-old gelding’s Caulfield Cup berth this weekend.

His demeanour was unexpected, as he was notably pessimistic about the Western Australian horse.

“My confidence was dented a bit when we drew barrier 17,” Peters said.

“It is hard from out there when it is a short run to the corner.

“Everything was looking good.”

Peters’ pessimism did not stop at the barrier, his alarm bells ring on the weight and the map of its run.

Especially when Hall asked Peters whether when he bred the horse, he saw it running out 2400m in a race like the Caulfield Cup?

“He has got a bit of weight to carry which is a bit of a nuisance, but still, we will see how we go,” he said.

“I think he will be okay with the trip, but you never know until they’ve run it.

“You don’t know what sort of start he gets, because you’ve got to use the horse up twice. You’ve got to use him up to get a position, or pull him right back to last, one or the other.

“You either use him up and then use him up again in the straight to get home, or you are coming from a very long way back to be able to run them down.

“It just makes it a bit harder.”

In another attempt to garner any degree of confidence, Hall suggested that Willie Pike was capable of the wizardry that would allow Cosmic Crusader to win from the wide barrier.

“Oh well, we will wait and see,” Peters muttered.

“Sometimes he’s lucky sometimes he is not.”

Could Cosmic Crusader back up into a Cox Plate?

Peters: “That’s a bit of an ask.”

Hall: “If he pulls up you have to don’t you Bob?”

Peters: “Well, you have to, because you never know whether you will have him next year. He will have to pull up well though, we aren’t going to hurt the horse.”

Hall suggested that Cosmic Crusader has shown the ability to race well off of a short back-up from last year’s Western Australian carnival.

“Yes, he won an 1800m weight for age, backed up a week later and ran second in a 1400m weight for age,” Peters said.

“That gives us a bit of confidence.”

Cosmic Crusader is quoted at $4.80 for the Caulfield Cup and is priced at $11 to potentially race off the quick break in the Cox Plate.

All odds thanks to Sportsbet.

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