EASIER TARGET FOR STAYER

A drop back in distance and class from the Melbourne Cup will bring Serpentine into calculations as one of the leading chances in the Christmas Cup (2400m) at Rosehill on Saturday.

The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained Serpentine set a brutal speed in the Melbourne Cup but was one of the first horses beaten and weakened to finish 19th and was eased up over the closing stages.

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Prior to that run he showed his class with a third in The Bart Cummings behind Future History.

Bott told Racing And Sports that Serpentine had recovered from the Melbourne Cup, a race where he struggled over the 3200 metres.

The 2020 English Derby winner had freshened up since that run according to Bott and he hoped he would return to his best form.

The stable also has another stayer by Galileo in the same race, I’m A Dirty Rascal, who is second up from over a year off.

Bott said they were happy with his first-up fifth over 1800m at Newcastle and he expected him to run a nice race at odds.

Serpentine is $6 with PlayUp and I’m A Dirty Rascal is $17.