MELBOURNE - A mini Melbourne Cup will be run tomorrow.
It comes in the form of the group two $A200,000 Saab Quality Handicap (2500m) at Flemington.
The Saab has a full field of 16 plus two emergencies. The 16 that have made the field are all among the third declarations for the $A3 million Melbourne Cup (3200m) on Tuesday.
That means, providing the emergencies are the only scratchings, that at least two horses will become guaranteed of a Melbourne Cup start as the first two home are exempt from any Cup ballot if they are among the third declarations.
Of the 16 in the Saab field, four are high enough on the Cup order of entry list to suggest a first or second placing was not necessary.
Those four are Maridpour, who is 12th on the Cup entry list, Our Unicorn (17th), Skybeau (19th) and Il Don (21st). The maximum Cup field is 24, with no emergencies listed. Final acceptors close after tomorrow's racing at 7 pm (NZ time).
The Saab contains four horses that are prepared by trainers who have New Zealand stables. They are Mike Moroney and Graeme Rogerson who each have two horses.
Moroney has Brew and Maridpour. Rogerson has Black Ledger and She's A Class Act.
Moroney is a difficult position with his pair. His preference is not to run Brew because he feels the horse has done enough in his preparation for the Melbourne Cup.
But he has had his hand forced because Brew is 32nd on the cup entry list.
Moroney said Maridpour is need of a race but is concerned about the state of the track.
He said Maridpour requires firm footing to show his best but that was looking unlikely after heavy rain in Melbourne yesterday morning.
Rogerson's pair of Black Ledger and She's A Class Act are both outside lightweight chances, each with the minimum of 52.5kg. Black Ledger is 31st in the Cup entry and She's A Class Act 40th.
Cups king Bart Cummings also has two runners in the Saab. They are Liberty Hall and Vintage Morn. Cummings said both will appreciate a wet track.
Liberty Hall and Vintage Morn are 36th and 39th in the Cup order and would need to finish in the first two to gain a start on Tuesday.
Cummings has a third cup entry, Oxford Dollar, but elected to by-pass the Saab with him. He is instead entered for the $A500,000 weight-for-age Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) on the same programme.
Oxford Dollar, the better backed of the Cummings' trio for the Cup, is 25th on the order list and the trainer admitted it was a punt not to run him in the Saab.
There is one New Zealand-trained horse in the Mackinnon, last season's top filly Hill Of Grace. She is on trial for the Melbourne Cup.
While much attention will be focused on the Saab and the Mackinnon, the day's feature is clearly the $A1 million VRC Derby (2500m) for three-year-olds.
New Zealand has one representative, Falls The Shadow, and he is among the leading chances.
His Waikato trainer Paul O'Sullivan said the prospect of a wet track does not encourage him.
"He's really floundered on these wet tracks in trackwork which is a concern," O'Sullivan said.
O'Sullivan has Mulan Princess in the $A350,000 Salinga Stakes (1200m) at Flemington tomorrow and from the minimum weight of 51kg she could be a serious threat.
- NZPA
Racing: Hopefuls get a taste of Cup in Saab
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