Racing: Nervous wait for Kiwi horses in Cup

Sir Charles Road winning the Group 2 Chairman's Quality (20600m). Photo / Supplied

The connections of the two Kiwis in Tuesday's Melbourne Cup could be in for a nervous Saturday.

Heading into Derby Day at Flemington tomorrow both Sir Charles Road and Zacada are in the Cup, securing the last two ranking spots but there are chances for horses to qualify tomorrow, including even in the VRC Derby.

So they exact composition of the field won't be known until around 6pm tomorrow night (Melbourne time) as the Cup picture has changed almost daily this week.

The latest example was the connections of UK raider Red Verdon remaining confident about his prospects of a start despite a minor setback that forced him to miss a key piece of work yesterday morning.

The Ed Dunlop-trained stayer appeared to shift a plate overnight, causing bruising and minor swelling to the area around his near fore hoof.

Damien Oliver, who has been booked for the A$7.5 million Cup, was due to partner Red Verdon in a grass gallop, however, the horse was instead attended to by the farrier and inspected by Racing Victoria vets.

Travelling foreman Robin Trevor-Jones said that while the situation was not ideal, the six-year-old could still line up in the Melbourne Cup if given the all-clear to complete a piece of work tomorrow morning.