Bowman bypasses Criterion ride to wait for Waller

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Criterion's owner wanted Bowman to commit to the Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner for Saturday's Caulfield assignment and the Cox Plate but the champion rider wasn't willing to engage himself for the $3 million weight-for-age feature at Moonee Valley on October 24.

"He couldn't guarantee he'd ride Criterion in the Cox Plate,” Bowman's manager Bryan Haskins said.

Bowman is holding out to see what Chris Waller does with his last start Group I winners Winx and Preferment before he commits to a Cox Plate ride with those two horses on top of his preferred options.

Victorian jockey Michael Walker will now partner Criterion on Saturday in the $400,000 Caulfield Stakes (2000m) and the $3 million Cox Plate (2040m).

Meanwhile, another of Haskins star-studded stable of jockeys, Blake Shinn has committed to ride the Waller-trained Who Shot Thebarman in the $3 million Caulfield Cup (2400m) on Saturday week and the $6 million Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 3.

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