Melbourne Cup jockey Nick Hall got that winning feeling early in the day when he pushed three year old Risen From Doubt to a narrow victory in the $100,000 Schweppes #FlemingtonFling (1000m) at Flemington today.
Nick Hall will be chasing his first Melbourne Cup win on the grey Fawkner. Photo by Race Horse Photos Australia.
Hall will be chasing his first Melbourne Cup win when he rides the well fancied Fawkner for prominent owner Lloyd Williams in “The Race That Stops The Nation’ later on in the day.
Fawkner has been solid in the market order for the Group 1 $6m Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m) and is the on the third line of betting with Ladbrokes.com.au at $7.50 after $8 was bet yesterday.
Williams is happy with Fawkner’s condition heading to Flemington and said that last year’s Caulfield Cup winner and last start Cox Plate runner up has had a good Melbourne Cup preparation.
“It’s a great feeling about the horse. I think that I couldn’t be happier about the preparation that he has had,” Williams said.
“His run in the Makybe Diva was first class first up, gave him a four week’s break to the Caulfield Stakes. He was pretty impressive in the Caulfield Stakes after a four week break and ran him in the Cox Plate.”
Williams went on to note that in the last ten years, four Melbourne Cup winners have raced in the Cox Plate including his own Efficient and Green Moon and last year’s winner, the Gai Waterhouse trained Fiorente.
“In the last ten years four runners from the Cox Plate have gone on and won the Melbourne Cup so it is quite a good guide. His run was pretty good the other day,” Williams said.
“Efficient came through the Cox Plate and Makybe Diva came through the Cox Plate. It’s not a bad guide, forty percent in the last ten years.”
“He’s got good weight for age form, he is coming into a handicap race with good weight for age form.”
This Spring Fawkner’s form has been top class with a first up second in the Group 1 $400,000 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on September 13 before winning the Group 1 $400,000 Cathay Pacific Caulfield Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield on October 11.
The Reset grey then went down narrowly to the super Irish galloper Adelaide when second in the Group 1 $3m Sportingbet Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley last week.
Latest Melbourne Cup market order: $6 Admire Rakti, $7 Lucia Valentina, $7.50 Fawkner, $8 Protectionist, $8.50 Signoff, Mutual Regard, $19 Who Shot Thebarman $21 Red Cadeaux, $26 Junoob, Willing Foe, Araldo, $34 My Ambivalent, $67 Opinion, $71 Lidari $81 Gatewood, Brambles, Au Revoir, Royal Diamond, Precedence, $101 Seismos, Unchain My Heart $201 Mr O’Ceirin.
