BART Cummings is quietly gaining confidence in his bid for a 13th Melbourne Cup win with a most unlikely horse - the little-known German galloper Illo, reports The Age. Its report adds: The 83-year-old master was initially deflated when he first saw Illo, who flew into Melbourne from London on September 24. His first impressions were that the horse was small and slight, but he was full of smiles when the six-year-old stallion galloped with partner Cosmonaut at Moonee Valley yesterday. And bookma

BART Cummings is quietly gaining confidence in his bid for a 13th Melbourne Cup win with a most unlikely horse - the little-known German galloper Illo, reports The Age.

Its report adds: The 83-year-old master was initially deflated when he first saw Illo, who flew into Melbourne from London on September 24. His first impressions were that the horse was small and slight, but he was full of smiles when the six-year-old stallion galloped with partner Cosmonaut at Moonee Valley yesterday. And bookmakers are keeping the horse relatively safe in the Cup market at $31.

"There's no problem,'' Cummings said. ''He's put on 18 kilograms and he'll be 20 [kilograms heavier] before he runs [on Saturday]. It doesn't say much for the Poms and the way they feed them. He looks better, too. He ran a mile-and-a-half [2400 metres] at evens, running home his last three [furlongs, or 600 metres] in 38 seconds. What more do you need?''

Cummings asked his trusty sounding board and longtime track rider Joe Agresta what he thought of the gallop when Agresta returned the entire to his stall.

But stony-faced Agresta has been around long enough to say too much in front of the press. ''He's not going to say anything while you blokes are here,'' Cummings said.

The trainer is relying on Illo to step up and show his wares as the stable is light on for Melbourne Cup horses this spring. At this point, with second acceptances still to be taken, Cummings would have a healthy handful of hopefuls, but this year just the moody gelding Precedence, who won the Moonee Valley Cup last year, and Illo, are likely contenders.

Illo makes his Australian debut on Saturday in the Moonee Valley Cup in a run that will indicate whether the Melbourne Cup is a pipe dream for the horse part-owned by Richard Pegum, who also part-owns December Draw and the injured weight-for-age horse My Kingdom Of Fife. (www.theage.com.au)