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Taikun was missing from the first two Group One sprints of the year but trainer Bart Cummings is confident he will be a force in the third, the Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield on Saturday.
Taikun travelled from Sydney to Melbourne to prepare to take on Lightning Stakes winner Fastnet Rock while Australia Stakes winner Cape Of Good Hope will be racing on his home turf in Hong Kong next weekend.
The master trainer had high hopes for the gelding last spring and things looked good when the gelding began his campaign with two wins in Sydney.
He was given no peace in the Schillaci Stakes at Caulfield and finished an unlucky fourth before a tiring last of 16 in the Group One Salinger Stakes on October 30 after which he was spelled.
"The last time he raced in Melbourne, he was at the end of his campaign but this time he's going in fresh," Cummings said.
"He's very good horse first-up and he's going better this time around than last time.
"I'm very happy and I think he can step up."
Taikun has won seven of his 11 starts and apart from the Salinger, his only other Group One appearance was when second to Spark Of Life in last year's Galaxy.
Five of his wins have been over the 1100 metre trip of the Oakleigh Plate with his only 1200m win coming at his second race start in a three-year-old restricted race.
Cummings is undecided whether Taikun will stay in Melbourne for a race like the Newmarket Handicap over the straight 1200m course at Flemington or return home for another shot at the Galaxy.
"He might come back, we'll just see what happens on Saturday first," he said.
Cummings is also hoping Besame Mucho can bounce back from the Liverpool City Cup at Warwick Farm in which she beat only three home.
The mare was sent out as one of the favoured runners, but after racing wide up on the pace, she became unbalanced after losing one of her front plates rounding the turn and was unable to find anything in the straight.
Shortly after the race, a storm hit Warwick Farm and the track was downgraded.
"I wish it had rained before my mare's races," Cummings said.
© 2010 Published 20/02/05
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