Something really worries me about the Japanese horses someone mentioned the other day they dfon't seem to be able to repeat performances close together they will have 2 weeks between the Caulfield Cup and the Melbourne Cup they might not backup.

Using Delta Blues form before the Caulfield Cup and he might be the one who could backup his runs were 22 days apart after which he had won the previous race over 3600m and dropped back to 2500m to be beaten 6.8 lengths by Hearts Cry an exceptional horse in it's own regard. A week short of 2 months later he is beaten 2.8 lengths over 2200m then almost a month later he is turned out to run 3rd to the japanese champ Deep Impact beaten 7.5 lengths then almost 6 weeks later he is well beaten by Deep Impact again 14.3 lengths this time though. Going over this he will be on his shortest backup from a gut busting run in the Caulfield Cup and it just might be a real big ask for him to turn around and do it again you have to remeber guys alot of these japanese horses are trained to run 2 or 3 times in a prep and produce there best right from the 1st start on the track.

Pop Rock might be a bit different case he had 4 runs last prep he won them all and had the following differences between his runs 7 days, just short of a month, and 15 days then he was turned out for about 4 months to be produced in the Caulfield Cup 1st up, Interestingly he has never won past 2500m nor below 2000m his sire won the Arc De Triomphe which is Helissio alot of his progeny have been known as complete headcases and the sire of the damn was Sunday Silence no great surprise considering it's success in Japan.

After looking at this the distance suits Delta Blues to a tee being a very tough one paced animal however the quick backup is a worry Pop Rock looks a slight query at the distance his only run beyond 2500m was a 6th placing beaten 6 lengths over 2600m however this was August 2004 so it is probably safe to throw that run away, Going from what we saw in the Caulfield Cup he had plenty to offer on the line.

After saying all this they are a chance for sure but I wouldn't be getting to confident with them yet remember Eye Popper was probably every bit as good a run as Delta Blues in last years Caulfield Cup and he was a major flop in the Melbourne Cup.