There is no greater fan of So You Think than me. I recognised his huge talent before most when I tipped him to Betfair readers to win last year’s G1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley. Even I wasn’t ready for what he has done in the following 12 months.

However, my head is taking over my heart and I am tipping Shocking (pictured winning last year’s G3 The Lexus on Derbvy day) to beat him in the G1 Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m) on Tuesday.

The 150^th running of this famous race deserves the crack field that has assembled, and if either Shocking or So You Think win, there will be a fitting level of “greatness” to the result.

Shocking, who has been my Cup pick since he won the G2 Makybe Diva Stakes (WFA, 1600m, Flemington) in September, is backing up for his second Cup win – only six other horses can claim such a record. His win last year was right up with one of the best Cup performances I have seen – right alongside Vintage Crop in 1993 and Doriemus in 1995 – and he has done nothing since to suggest he not a much stronger, classier galloper this year.

He rises 6kg (but it is 4.5kg in real terms, because there is a natural 1.5kg increase from a 4YO to 5YO), which is the same weight increase given to Makybe Diva when she won her first of three Cups in 2003. That’s a measure of how the handicapper Greg Carpenter rates his win. I think Shocking is a horse that can win three Cups, that’s how highly I rate him.

On Tuesday, he meets So You Think on his terms – in the toughest 3200m slog in racing. His good sixth behind So You Think in the G1 Mackinnon Stakes (WFA, 2000m) on Saturday was a perfect, traditional Derby day prelude to what he can deliver in the Cup. And his Caulfield Cup fourth was the run of the race – the Caulfield Cup remains the best guide to the Cup.

So You Think is a sensational horse, and he might blow them away on Tuesday. If he does, he deserves to be rated with the greats – two Cox Plates, six Group 1s and a Melbourne Cup in a dozen starts. Wow!

I am not getting carried away with his Mackinnon win. It’s what should have been expected of a Cox Plate winner against 3200m handicappers. And I am not convinced barrier 3 is a good position for him, especially if he’s tucked away and they walk down the straight the first time. The Melbourne Cup is a totally different race to a Cox Plate and a Mackinnon Stakes.

The international challenge is strong. Americain and Manighar are the best of them, although I respect Godolphin’s Holberg.

Harris Tweed and Descarado will run well, as they handle the conditions. Their Caulfield Cup runs were outstanding and they sit nicely in the middle of the weights.

The tips: Shocking 1, So You Think 2, Americain 3, Harris Tweed 4, Manighar 5, Descarado 6.

Maluckyday won the Group 3 Lexus Stakes (2500m) at Flemington this morning as race two on a big card and a long day, and might give owner Nick Moraitis a crack at a second lucky day in the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday.

Moraitis, of course, won the 1997 Melbourne Cup with Might And Power, one of the best horses of the past 20 years – he won the Caulfield Cup at his final run before the Cup, and won the Cox Plate the next year, ridden each time by Jim Cassidy.

Cassidy had the mount yesterday when Maluckyday, at his first Melbourne run after beating much weaker opposition in Sydney, was too strong. He said of the Zabeel 4YO: “He’s taken the next step … if he doesn’t go to the Cup this year, he’ll be a good one next year.”

Moraitis, emotional after the race, hugged and kissed trainers John and Michael Hawkes and said he’d leave the decision on a run on this Tuesday to Team Hawkes (which also includes Wayne, son of John and brother of Michael).

Asked if he could win a second Cup, Moraitis said: “Once is enough in a lifetime, but I hope there’s another.”

A decision will be made close to 5pm acceptances today on whether he will get the chance this year.

John Hawkes said after the Lexus: “You never say never, but we’ll just weigh things up, have a look how he’s pulled, speak to everybody … we’ll just make our mind up later in the day.

“He’s a very promising young horse, but I still think he’s 12 months away.”

Moraitis heaped praise on Cassidy’s ride, the veteran jockey coming from second last, getting on Linton’s tail towards the turn and powering past the field (and Linton and brave front-runner Once Were Wild) in the run to the post.

“Jimmy gave them a nice licking today,” Moraitis said.

TAB Sportsbet brought Maluckyday into $11 fourth favourite for the Cup, and handicapper Greg Carpenter penalised him 1kg, bring him to 51kg, the same weight Shocking carried in winning the Cup last year after winning the Lexus, for which he wasn’t penalised.

Linton now misses the Cup, as do Moudre (a strong running fourth) and the other horses who had to win to qualify. Once Were Wild, who broke clear of the field with the leader Herculian Prince, her stablemate, put in a good Cup trial. Herculian Prince was gone on the turn and finished a disappointing last. He will be spelled.

Cassidy has been engaged for Once Were Wild in the Cup, but said if Maluckyday does run, “I’ll do a bit of talking, I think.”

THE LEXUS STAKES, 2500m

Maluckyday ($6.50), Jim Cassidy 1

Linton ($3.80f), Glen Boss 2

Once Were Wild ($14), Michael Walker 3

While this year’s Group 1 AAMI Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington doesn’t have a high-profile star in the field, there is a depth to the runners that suggests that the Australia’s ability to supply stayers is not on the wane.

This field of 16 runners should provide an enthralling race. The two key form lines, as usual, are last week’s G2 AAMI Vase (2040m) at Moonee Valley and the G2 Norman Robinson Stakes (2000m) run at Caulfield a week earlier. You can basically discount any other race as providing the winner – no Geelong Classic winner has ever won the Derby.

Since 1991, 11 of the 18 Derby winners have backed up in a week from the AAMI Vase, and in all cases bar one the Derby winner has either won or been placed at Moonee Valley. The exception is Redding (1992), who finished fourth in the Vase.

And the same goes for the Norman Robinson – the five Derby winners in that time to contest the Caulfield race also either won or placed.

This year Retrieve beat Almindoro (pictured) and Digital Fortress in the Norman Robinson, while Rekindled Interest beat Lion Tamer and Hollowlea in the AAMI Vase. Hollowlea is not contesting the Derby. So the law of averages says that the winner will come from those five promising young stayers.

I think Almindoro can win the race for the Stevens – trainer Steve Richards and jockey Steven King. Almindoro is a maiden, but his second behind Retrieve at Caulfield was a beauty, and I have watched him at the track since and he has gone on in leaps and bounds. His work at Flemington on Tuesday morning was exceptional. He will stay all day and he will race on the pace. He also handled a very heavy track at Caulfield. This is the young stayer on the up and he represents great value.

I tipped Rekindled Interest to win the G1 Caulfield Guineas, but he got too far back before hitting the line hard. He ran up to that promise with a commanding win in the AAMI Vase. He is a gelding with a sharp turn of foot. My only query is whether he is robust enough to back up within seven days.

Retrieve is a good colt and trainer Peter Snowden is a bit snooty that the horse is not a firm favourite, because he rates the Norman Robinson as a superior form guide than the Vase. From barrier two, jockey Kerrin McEvoy should be able to give Retrieve the run of the race.

I liked Lion Tamer’s run at Moonee Valley. He worked on the pace and held on gamely for second behind Rekindled Interest. The other forward runners finished in the pack, and co-trainer Murray Baker believes the colt needed the hit-out. He is poorly draw on Saturday, and I expect Hugh Bowman will ride him more conservatively. Lion Tamer handles wet ground.

Digital Fortress looked impressive running on well for third in the Norman Robinson. He’s in the good hands of trainer Guy Walter.

The tips: Almindora 1, Rekindled Interest 2, Retrieve 3, Lion Tamer 4, Digital Fortress 5, Ulundi (the roughie) 5.

Track gallops more often than not mean very little for the uninitiated, especially for those who don’t attend the early morning workouts on a regular basis.

Less that a week out from the Melbourne Cup Carnival, most horses are near their peak and work stylishly on the bit. The rare bit of news is usually bad … breakdowns and mishaps. Who will forget poor Carte Diamond running through the outside fence on the Tuesday before the Cup in 2005?

This morning at Flemington the carnival contenders worked on the course proper in front of a big crowd of media and a less informed bunch of breakfast goers at the official function – the second group was trapped behind a glass screen with little knowledge of what was going on outside.

Bart Cummings didn’t wait for the media and worked his team earlier in the dark, including the champ So You Think. We remain in the dark about the quality of the gallops, but, as mentioned, no news is usually good news at this time of the year.

Everything went to Hoyle – except maybe for Monaco Consul, who worked a bit too keenly early in his solo gallop, running 2000m in solid 2min 17.8sec. He laboured home his final 400m in a slowish 24.7secs, while in contrast Desperado slipped home in 22.90secs in a building gallop in partnership with the Oaks filly Zutaya, who, by the way, worked impressively.

Tony Noonan’s import Buccellati was the star galloper as far as the Cup was concerned. The little chestnut gave Derby contender Praecido a 12-length start and caught him in a 2000m gallop in a slick 2.15.7, the final 600m in 34.6. Buccalleti looks to have turned the corner after some moderate lead-up form. Noonan was pleased.

But then came the awesome beast that is Hay List (pictured).

The big horse, who somehow has lost a bit of the gloss and hype he engineered for most of the spring, not by his own doing, but the fact that the unbeaten mare Black Caviar has stepped up to the plate as a formidable foe, hummed down the straight in an 800m trial which had the clockers checking their watches.

Hay List, ridden by race rider Glyn Schofield, ran the 800m in 45.15, the final 400m in 21.5 – now that’s flying. Schofield still had the handbrake on.

Long-time Flemington trackman Gavan Spain labelled it a winning gallop. “Horse don’t work like that and run that time and get beaten,” he said. “I don’t think I have clocked a horse running quicker in these straight trials since Placid Ark (1987) and little Brawny Spirit. They are the only two horses I can remember breaking 46 seconds.”

Spain may have been forgetting Exceed And Excel, who I believe broke 46secs when he won a straight trial before winning his Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m, Flemington) in 2004, but such “match-winning” gallops are rare.

Trainer Danny O’Brien, whose colt Star Witness was in the trial, didn’t believe the time when Spain and fellow trackman Warren Huntly compared watches. “Are you sure?” he said. O’Brien, who is having a lean run, had every reason to leave with a spring in his step as Star Witness was second behind Hay List and more than held his own, finishing well clear of Quick Peek and Swift Alliance, who battled it out for third place.

Star Witness, the 2010 Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes winner, will run on Saturday against his fellow 3YOs in the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m), although O’Brien didn’t discount backing the colt up against Hay List and Black Caviar in the Group 1 Patinack Farm Classic (1200m, Flemington) on Saturday week.

“We will get over Saturday first,” O’Brien said. “This horse just doesn’t go around corners, he’s a straight track specialist, which is why we have kept him for this race. I couldn’t be happier with how he is going.”

O’Brien agreed it is frustrating to have such a talented horse, but one with an aversion to turning left or right. However, he has set the colt on a straight track campaign that will cover the rest of the spring and the autumn, when he will be set for the Group 1 Lightning Stakes (1000m) and the Newmarket Handicap; and maybe a visit to Royal Ascot for the straight track dashes, the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes and the Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes.

Bart’s boys and girls may have been home in their box munching on hay, but the garnish of a bit of the same for the media on today’s breakfast was fodder worth waiting for.

So You Think, in all his magnificence, is a sight to behold. Handsome, flighty and arrogantly good. His win in Saturday’s Cox Plate was spine-tingling and right up with the best theatre that racing can offer. Moonee Valley is racing’s equivalent of Shakespeare’s Globe.

If So You Think’s prancing entrance on to the track, his exhilarating burst of speed at the 600 metres to put the race beyond doubt and his neck-arched parade in front of his adoring fans post-race didn’t stir the emotions then nothing will. He’s a commanding presence; a swashbuckling Errol Flynn.

Even jockey Steven Arnold, the anti-Boss, left the accolades for the horse. There was no Glen Boss-like standing in the irons, no arms raised in triumph, and definitely no saddle boogieing. For the quiet, unassuming, but much talented Arnold his greatest racing achievement was as much one of relief as it was euphoria. He said enough about his opinion of this horse after the Group 1 Yalumba Stakes win at Caulfield two weeks ago: “I wipe my feet before I get on him.”

It’s a quote for the time that will be remembered and repeated for years to come.

But the emotion, for me, of Saturday’s Cox Plate really hit hard when a frail, gaunt and wavering Bart Cummings, the director of this wonderful show, made his slow walk to the presentation area. The seemingly invincible man, the one human constant in racing that has been with me since I was a boy, is struggling.

Horse and trainer presented such contrasting visions, and personally I struggled to hold my feelings when Cummings appeared in the winner’s circle, brushed by the media and heartily congratulated his staff, foreman Reg Fleming and long-time track rider and sidekick Joe Agresta. Even that moment, not usually so emphatic, seemed poignant.

The illnesses of 2010 – first the pneumonia and more recently the fractured pelvis – have had a devastating effect on the great man. For the first time he looks older than his 82 years.

Even Cummings’ good mate and Melbourne chauffeur, Peter Mason, was moved. He admitted that Cummings, who in the past has blamed his hay fever (and correctly so) for any post-race tears, also found this an emotional moment, as people often do when they have been through a life struggle. “His (Cummings’) bottom lip was quivering. It certainly is emotional,” Mason said of the trainer’s immediate reaction to the win.

Cummings has another act to go in his amazing training career and his 60-year association with the Melbourne Cup.

He will be breaking new ground if he can win his 13^th Cup with his new star. None of his previous dozen have won the Cup without running in a race run over 2400 metres or longer in the spring lead up. Cummings has won the Cox Plate-Melbourne Cup double before, with Saintly in 1996, but the big chestnut was placed third in the AJC Metropolitan Handicap, then run over 2600m, at Randwick before coming to Melbourne.

Like So You Think, Saintly also was a four-year-old, and also a brilliant galloper capable of peeling off fast sectionals – he returned from his Cup win in the 1997 autumn to win the C.F. Orr Stakes (wfa, 1400m, Caulfield). Saintly also didn’t have a pedigree to run 3200 metres, even less so than So You Think, so Cummings probably has a bit more to work with in regards to stretching So You Think (a son of the brilliant staying sire High Chaparral from a mare by a son of Nijinsky II) out in distance, although he has only 10 days to do it.

Makybe Diva was able to win a Melbourne Cup off a Cox Plate preparation. She did it in 2005, but, of course, she had won the previous two Cups, so the 3200 metres was a given for her.

Efficient also did in it 2007. He ran ninth behind El Segundo in the Cox Plate – his fourth unplaced run of the campaign – before winning the Cup, but Efficient had won the Victoria Derby (2500m) the previous spring.

Both Cummings and Arnold know that So You Think will need to relax more in his races to win the Cup. Arnold admits he is not convinced the heady, immature colt, can relax enough to run out a strong 3200 metres, which he will have to do against what is shaping is the strongest Cup field we have seen in recent times. Arnold is putting his faith in the masterful direction of Cummings – the body might be ailing, but the mind is sharp, and the great man lives for these moments and, for him, business is unfinished.

There is certainly an aura around this year’s Group 1 Cox Plate (wfa, 2040m) at Moonee Valley that hasn’t existed since Makybe Diva won in 2005 … and it’s all because of So You Think.

So You Think (pictured winning the Yaluma Stakes at Caulfield) has something very special that few horses can boast – the looks of a film star. Makbye Diva was a nice mare, but she didn’t command attention; Northerly looked like the Man From Snowy River’s pony; and Sunline was a testosterone filled brute of a mare, built like a shot-putter rather than a catwalk model.

I don’t have any doubts So You Think, bar tripping over himself at the start, will win his second Cox Plate, and in doing so create a bit of history being the first 3YO winner to return at four to win it again. Some good ones such as Octagonal, Delta and Carbon Copy have tried and failed.

Even so, I believe this race is far more of a contest than it looks on paper. Gai Waterhouse, the actress-cum-trainer (forever the actress) is standing in the wings with a wonderful mare, More Joyous, who will give So You Think a run for his money.

The barrier draws – So You Think (5) and More Joyous (2) – are such that So You Think will go forward as usual to either lead or sit outside More Joyous. I expect Nash Rawiller will want to take a sit behind the champ. If so,  the crowd will be yelling from the 600 metres, as the pair should clear out.

Last year, Waterhouse’s Manhattan Rain sat behind So You Think but couldn’t hang on to his tail when Glen Boss let So You Think run before the turn. So You Think is a better horse this year and Manhattan Rain has given up the chase for a better life at Arrowfield Stud.

But the Waterhouse team, and most good judges, rate More Joyous a much better horse than Manhattan Rain. She has the talent to more than hang with So You Think in full flight – whether she can sustain it to test him at the end of a tough 2040 metres is the doubt.

A great 4YO male should beat a great 4YO mare. It must be remembered that only five individual mares have won the Cox Plate, and they all tick the “great” box – Tranquil Star (2), Flight (2), Dane Ripper, Sunline (2) and Makybe Diva. If More Joyous can beat So You Think on Saturday, she deserves her place in such illustrious company.

The others seem an even lot apart from Avienus, who looks out of her depth. Any one of seven can fill third place, including the Macau visitor Luen Yat Forever, who ran so well when fourth behind More Joyous in the G1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) at Caulfield.

I think Shoot Out can beat the rest home. A better draw may have seen him split So You Think and More Joyous. He might even do so if the mare is off her game at 2040m.

Trainer John Wallace is adamant he has Shoot Out at his supreme Group 1 winning best. “He’ll be ridden quietly like he was when he won the (AJC) Derby,” Wallace said.

Shoot Out is the horse than can upset the two favourites, and he deserves to be respected. He will carry the sentiment of the crowd following the tragic death of his usual jockey Stathi Katsidis.

Whobegotyou and Wall Street will run well, and old Zipping won’t be far away while he’s in such great form.

Whobegotyou will need to come from last. A bit of rain around will help his chances; Wall Street is a three-times Group 1 winner with a lot of natural talent, so don’t underestimate him; and Zipping has been placed in the past two Cox Plates and, at nine, he’s going better than ever, according to the stable.

A wet and wild Caulfield Cup day is not a usual occurrence, despite Melbourne’s often fickle spring weather.

Recent wet Caulfield Cups  have been won by Elvstroem (2004) on a dead track and Ethereal (2001) and Doriemus (1995) in the slow.

Tomorrow’s track – somewhere between slow and heavy – will be the wettest since Mannerism ploughed through the mud to touch out Veandercross in 1992; before that it was Lord Reims in 1987.

The wet trackers this year include many of the favourites, particularly Shocking, Metal Bender (pictured), Herculian Prince and Faint Perfume, so there has been little change to the betting order since the rain arrived on Wednesday.

I expect money to come for the Kiwi mudder Harris Tweed, Monaco Consul and Luca Cumani’s Manighar. Lloyd Williams’ import Mourayan essentially has firm track form, but he did run third in the G1 Irish Derby on a dead track – I would consider a Curragh dead to be like a Caulfield slow.

Alcopop is one of the unknowns. His best runs are on firm ground, but his form shows a slow win in the JRC Cup at Moonee Valley – the Moonee Valley StrathAyr slow is a totally different surface that what he will get at Caulfield.

I’m sticking with the view I have held since the G1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on October – Metal Bender. I declared after that race that I had seen the Caulfield Cup winner and the Melbourne Cup winner; I believe Shocking is a near certainty to win the Melbourne Cup.

Metal Bender is yet to prove himself at 2400 metres, but his 2000m form is outstanding, winning the 2009 G1 Rosehill Guineas and 2010 G1 Doomben Cup. His fourth in the Turnbull, with any luck, could have been a win, as he was badly blocked in the early part of the straight.

The wet track will bring Metal Bender and Shocking closer together in the Caulfield Cup, in fact, it will probably favor the proven, tough stayer a little more.

Shocking has an amazing record at 2400 metres or further – four tries for two wins and two seconds, all at Group level. Expect him to be in the finish.

I expect Harris Tweed to run a mighty race now that the rain has arrived. He won the G2 Tulloch Stakes (2000m) in
the wet last year. I still regard his fifth in last year’s Melbourne Cup as the second best run in the race behind
the winner Shocking.

Herculian Prince will set a hectic pace and he needs to bounce out to get to the front early. The concern is that it is no easy task to lead and win a Caulfield Cup, especially without having raced at Caulfield before.

Faint Perfume gets blinkers for the first time. It should see her improve on her recent moderate form.

Melbourne’s wet Caulfield Cup forecast looks to be good news for Hong Kong visitor Mr Medici, who has settled in well at the Werribee quarantine facility.

Overlooked by many as a chance in the 2400-metre cup on Saturday – and in the Melbourne Cup (3200m) on November 2 – Mr Medici’s stocks rose with the G1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) fourth placing last weekend by Macau visitor Luen Yat Forever, regarded even more lightly than HK’s MM.

Now that racegoers have seen that the Asian horses stack up, they should also look at Mr Medici’s wet-track record. Among his Hong Kong wins was the G1 Champions and Chater Cup (wfa, 2400m) at Sha Tin on May 30, his most recent start – it was in pouring rain on a slow track; and as a three-year-old, before he was bought from Ireland, he won over 1400m on a bog track at Limerick.

No wonder the Peter Ho-trained Mr Medici is being kept safe around the $18 mark. Frenchman Gerald Mosse, who had the Champions and Chater mount, will ride, and will be responsible for overcoming barrier 16 (12 if all four emergencies come out).

The South China Morning Post pointed out earlier this week that the Australian media had overlooked Mr Medici (b h 6, Medicean (GB)-Way For Life (GER), by Platini (GER)), but he – and the weather – are now on their radar.

Mr Medici has had 33 starts for five wins and 19 placings, and has earned almost $2.5 million.

Mosse, who has Geelong and Melbourne Cup bookings for Americain, the French stayer bought by Victorians Gerry Ryan and Kevin and Colleen Bamford, had a winner at Happy Valley in Hong Kong last night, but star of the meeting was Australian jockey Brett Prebble, whose treble took him to 13 wins for the season, only won behind Douglas Whyte, who was winless last night. (He had three seconds.)

Prebble, by the way, has been offered Geelong and Melbourne Cup rides on the Luca Cumani-trained Drunken Sailor.

Another Australian, Zac Purton had one win at Happy Valley. He is third on the premiership ladder with nine wins.

Hong Kong is topping up its depleted riding ranks – Tye Angland (NSW), who has a four-month contract, had a winner at his first meeting last Sunday; William Pike (WA) has a one-off booking for this Sunday; Mosse has returned from France; and Neil Callan, who has had 100 winners for each of the past six English seasons, will take up a four-month contract late in November.

Photo: Mr Medici in quarantine in Melbourne.

Anacheeva is yet another yearling to “fail the vet” at the sales and to go on to win at Group 1 level.

The son of Anabaa, who looked a pictured in the parade, used his barrier one to advantage to run down the leader Run For Levi (by Hussonet), who ran the bravest of races for his big-spending owner Nathan Tinkler.

Anacheeva, trained by Peter Moody and ridden by Luke Nolen – the new dominant forces in Australian racing – cost only $110,000 as a yearling at the 2009 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale.

Moody said that the colt failed all veterinary checks of his x-rays and was unwanted in Widden Stud’s draft, but “we took a chance and got him cheap.” Anacheeva is raced by Victorian-based Rockmount Syndicate, part-managed by Geoff Guest, who owns Rockmount, a leading agistment farm, at Euroa.

Anacheeva is a brother to the 2006 Group 1 Australian Derby winner Headturner – both are out of the Zabeel mare Monroe Magic, whose dam My Marilyn (by Bakharoff), was a brilliant juvenile.

Moody said the colt, a maiden winner at Sale at two, proved himself the best 3YO of the spring. ”He has won over six (1200m), seven (1400m) and now a mile (1600m), stepping up in class each time.”

The Guineas is one of Australia’s premier races for sourcing stallions, and Anacheeva, a neat if not immature colt, will be much sought after as a stallion prospect. His only real fault is a habit of carrying his head high, which forced Moody to employ the use of the nose roll.

“He looked brilliant in the parade,” said Moody, “but you can see he hasn’t furnished yet. There is a lot of improvement in him.”

Anacheeva pounced on Run For Levi at the 300m, but he found himself in uncharted waters when he hit the front so far from home, and then hung in on Run For Levi, who fought the finish out magnificently.

The Sydney colt Masquerader, wearing blinkers for the first time, ran on nicely for third ahead of a game Toorak Toff, the unlucky Rekindled Interest and an improving Smokin’ Joey.

Toorak Toff lost his chance when jockey Damien Oliver was unable to get the big colt into a good position from barrier eight, forcing Oliver to make a long forward move down the side out four wide.

Rekindled Interest knuckled at the start and almost fell. Jockey Craig Williams then made a mistake by coming off the rail on the bend, only to run into behinds. When he switched back inside the “bird had flown” but Rekindled Interest stormed late in a performance that smacked of “Derby contender”.

The highly-rated Sydney colt Ilovethiscity loomed to win the race on the bend, but died on his run. He raced a tired horse.

PHOTO: Anacheeva pictured at Widden Stud as a yearling

Ironicially, owner Lloyd Williams has spent a small fortune trying to buy a Melbourne Cup winner from overseas, yet his best chance of winning the 150^th running of the Melbourne Cup has been on his doorstep all the time.

Williams had 23 horses nominated for the Melbourne Cup – more than half of those imported horses bought at great expense from the likes of Aidan O’Brien and the Aga Khan in Europe.

Williams last week’s lamented that he might have no runners in this year’s big race as he organised his star recruit, the G1 Irish St Leger winner Alandi, to be returned to Ireland to former trainer Jox Oxx because “we can’t get him going.”

Linton earned himself a crack at the Cup with a solid win in today’s Group 2 Herbert Power Handicap (2400m) at Caulfield. It is the grey’s first win beyond 1600 metres and although he’s immature, he’s a raw talent with great scope for improvement.

Williams has decided to miss next week’s Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m), and set Linton on a Melbourne Cup path, but he has warned that the gelding will be stopped in his quest if there is any sign he is not coping with an arduous spring-staying program.

Today’s win was Linton’s only seventh start, and he won like a horse that can only improve with further experience.

Linton has only 51kg in the Cup, but he is liable for a penalty for his Herbert Power win. Last year chief handicapper Greg Carpenter gave Herbert Power winner Alcopop an extra 1.5kg, and if he gives Linton an expected 1kg it will be enough for 4YO to be guaranteed of a run.

At his previous start when third behind Precedence in the Listed JRA Cup (2040m) at Moonee Valley, jockey Michael Rodd said Linton “climbed” in his action throughout the race. “He never really settled, so he did a really good job to run third,” Rodd said.

Being trained for longer trips has taken some of the sprint out of Linton, but the son of Galileo is bred to stay and also Williams and his team still have blinkers to add to sharpen him if necessary.

It could be that the horse might go into the Cup without another run, although Williams has the option of running him in the G2 Moonee Valley Cup (2600m) in a fortnight, or on Derby Day at Flemington in either the G1 Mackinnon Stakes (wfa 2000m) or the Group 3 Lexus (2500m).