Muntahaa might have beaten the handicapper, warns Marmelo trainer
The trainer of last year's Melbourne Cup favourite fears Ebor winner Muntahaa has beaten the handicapper, but warned Marmelo was only just hitting his peak before another tilt at the $7.3 million race.
Expectations have been kept in check for Marmelo second time around despite his brilliant Caulfield Cup run last year lifting him to the joint top of betting for the 2017 race, in which he weakened to finish ninth.
He is nowhere near as well fancied with bookmakers in 2018 to become the first British-based horse to win Australian racing's holy grail, but trainer Hughie Morrison has singled out Muntahaa as the biggest danger as punters rally around John Gosden's six-year-old.
"He seems very well in [with 55.5kg]," Morrison said after watching Hugh Bowman partner Marmelo in a gallop alongside Magic Circle on Wednesday. "Funnily enough he beat us two-and-a-half years ago by six lengths in a maiden at Kempton on the all weather [track]. We've won a group 2, he's won a group 2 and the third [horse] has won a group 2 too so it was an extraordinarily competitive race.
"Based on that we should get two-and-a-half kilos so I think he's very well handicapped. He was very impressive in the Ebor."
Gosden is likely to skip a visit to Australia to watch Muntahaa at Flemington as he tends to Breeders Cup' Turf commitments with two-time Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Enable in the United States this weekend.
He's not the only connection of a European runner hoping to have snuck under the guard of Greg Carpenter with two-time Cup-winning jockey Kerrin McEvoy making a flying visit to Werribee to ride Cross Counter in a gallop.
Charlie Appleby's lightly-raced stayer has only 51kg in the Melbourne Cup as he tries to overcome a setback in which he missed almost a week of work.
"He looks very genuine and feels as though he's been around the block," McEvoy said. "UK horses can be one or the other, they can be up for the assignment or they can be a little bit green. He doesn't ride like he's a young horse. He's very switched on and willing.
"Sure, you'd probably like them to have 20 runs rather than seven. That's why he's got in with a nice light weight and he might have got ahead of the handicapper."
That's why he's got in with a nice light weight and he might have got ahead of the handicapper
Kerrin McEvoy
Marmelo and Magic Circle worked strongly to the line under their respective Melbourne Cup riders with Corey Brown perhaps placing the latter under slightly more pressure.
Brown is trying to become the first jockey to win back-to-back Melbourne cups since Glen Boss on Makybe Diva in 2005.
"I said it the other day, you can go into the race every year knowing you've won it and you feel a little bit more relaxed," Brown said. "Everything sort of slows down and you can think about things better.
"I was a lot happier with [Magic Circle on Wednesday] morning as he was a lot sharper. The other morning he was very flat footed getting around the turn. I definitely think he can [win it].
"I've got a little bit of a query with the weight [56kg] and I would have loved a lighter weight on his back, but he's definitely the right horse to do it. He's a tough tradesman-like stayer and I'm very happy to ride him."
Morrison has deliberately kept Marmelo on the fresh side this year and has been content to plan his Melbourne Cup preparation with the absence of an Australian lead-up run.
"Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want," he said. "He ran a fantastic race in the Caulfield Cup and he had a busy year last year. We had pretty tough conditions back home with a bad winter, fast ground and he needed a bit of time [this year]. Hopefully the time we've given him will make a difference."
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