TOP Warrnambool trainer Symon Wilde has booked the services of comeback jockey Dean Yendall to ride his talented mare Tralee Rose in the $5 million Caulfield Cup this Saturday and the $8 million Melbourne Cup on November 1.
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Yendall has only been back riding since August 16 after fracturing his C2 and C3 following a fall at Terang in December.
He won the group 3 Northwood Plume Stakes on Literary Magnate at Caulfield on Saturday.
Wilde said he was delighted to secure Yendall's services to ride Tralee Rose in both cups.
"Dean is a top light-weight jockey," he said.
"We've got 51.5kgs in the Caulfield and Melbourne cups and Dean will have no worries getting down to that weight for both races.
"Dean has been picking and choosing his own rides since he returned from injury and he showed with his winning ride on Literary Magnate that he has not lost his ability."
Tralee Rose hasn't raced since running last of 14 runners in the Heatherlie Handicap at Caulfield on August 27 but the two-time Warrnambool Grand Annual Steeplechase-winning trainer said he was looking for a forward showing from the six-year-old in Saturday's Caulfield Cup.
"We've been doing a lot of work on the sand track at home and down at the beach with Tralee Rose," Wilde said.
"She's got a lot of miles in her legs going into the Caulfield and Melbourne cups."
"She was disappointing at her first two runs in this campaign but the vets have gone over her and there's nothing wrong with her.
"We've known all along that she was already in the Melbourne Cup field so there was no reason to panic about a run in the big two-mile race. We just wanted to run her in the Caulfield Cup to top her off for the Melbourne Cup.
"She ran ninth in last year's Melbourne Cup and if she could run in the top-10 again this year I would be over the moon."
Bookmakers rate Tralee Rose as a $51 chance to win the Caulfield Cup. She is also a $51 hope in early betting markets for the Melbourne Cup.
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