GATEWOOD will attempt to become the fourth horse in 11 years to complete the Geelong Cup-Melbourne Cup double when he heads to Flemington in 12 days after sprinting to victory in yesterday's group 3 race, reports The Age.It says: The British-bred stayer needed to win yesterday's cup in order to receive a sufficient penalty to elevate him into the final field for the Melbourne Cup. He is expected to leap from 41st position on the order of entry after Racing Victoria's general manager of racing, G
GATEWOOD will attempt to become the fourth horse in 11 years to complete the Geelong Cup-Melbourne Cup double when he heads to Flemington in 12 days after sprinting to victory in yesterday's group 3 race, reports The Age.
It says: The British-bred stayer needed to win yesterday's cup in order to receive a sufficient penalty to elevate him into the final field for the Melbourne Cup. He is expected to leap from 41st position on the order of entry after Racing Victoria's general manager of racing, Greg Carpenter, announces today what is expected to be a penalty of between 1.5 and two kilograms.
While Gatewood should enter the safe zone for a Cup start, the connections of third placegetter Brigantin must wait to see if their stayer can sneak into the final field, with the horse reliant on the attrition rate to see him climb from 30th on the order of entry.
For the connections of Gatewood, the OTI Racing Syndicate, the victory was sweet after a luckless Australian debut in the Herbert Power Stakes at Caulfield when their horse was held up for runs from the 800 metres, eventually running to the line untested.