Glen Boss’s odds of claiming a fourth Melbourne Cup trophy are almost specified to hinge on English stayer Gatewood earning a ballot-exempt location in this year’s race.
Boss is so far without having a ride in the race he won 3 times on Makybe Diva but his fortunes have taken a turn for the greater with Gatewood’s nomination for Flemington on Saturday.
Gatewood took out the Geelong Cup last week but remains 36th in the order of entry for the Melbourne Cup following getting only a 1kg penalty.
The penalty lifted the John Gosden-educated five-year-old’s weight to 52.5kg but Boss said he was aiming for the stayer to make a “back door” entry into the Melbourne Cup.
“I’m going to consider and squeeze Gatewood into the race,” Boss explained.
“He’s going to run in the (Group A few Lexus Stakes) on Saturday.”
Boss said he was confident Gatewood could win the 2500m Cup qualifier.
“John Gosden’s received him in fantastic form down at Werribee so if he can race his way into the area, in my mind he’s a legitimate top-4 chance of winning the race.
“He only received a kilo penalty and I was hoping for a kilo-and-a-half so he’s going to certainly go in the back door, which is not the norm for the Europeans, to back up.
“But he’s had two extremely soft runs so he’s nonetheless received extremely fresh legs and (proprietor) Terry (Henderson) explained to me he had seen him at Werribee this morning and he appears unbelievable.”
Boss mentioned the Lexus would be an ideal race for Gatewood and maintained the horse would nonetheless be fresh adequate to be really competitive in the Melbourne Cup.
“It really is going to be run at his tempo – hopefully a delicate victory and we go into Tuesday with the hope that there are even now fresh legs,” he said.
Owners OTI Racing have nominated the English stayer for the two the $ 1 million Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) as well as the $ 250,000 Lexus Stakes with the two races providing the winner ballot exemption into the Melbourne Cup.
Henderson said the situation was whether the possible for increasing the horse’s long term stallion prospective customers outweighed what was greatest for his Melbourne Cup pursuit.
“We have to weigh up whether the possible improve of Gatewood’s worth as a stallion helps make it really worth running in the Mackinnon,” Henderson informed racingvictoria.net.au.
“If we feel it isn’t the very best option for his Melbourne Cup possibilities then we will run in the Lexus.
“Backing him up shouldn’t be an problem as he has just come by means of the run at Geelong so properly,” he said.
AAP TURF rg/w
