OWNER Lloyd Williams moved a step closer to a fourth Melbourne Cup win yesterday when his quinella in the Bendigo Cup gave him an outside chance at a historic six runners in Tuesday's $6.2 million race, reports The Age. It says: Chief handicapper Greg Carpenter will announce a Melbourne Cup penalty for Tanby this morning after the stayer's 1¥-length victory over imported stablemate At First Sight. But the locally-bred Tanby will need at least a two-kilogram penalty to bring him within range of a
OWNER Lloyd Williams moved a step closer to a fourth Melbourne Cup win yesterday when his quinella in the Bendigo Cup gave him an outside chance at a historic six runners in Tuesday's $6.2 million race, reports The Age.
It says: Chief handicapper Greg Carpenter will announce a Melbourne Cup penalty for Tanby this morning after the stayer's 1¥-length victory over imported stablemate At First Sight. But the locally-bred Tanby will need at least a two-kilogram penalty to bring him within range of a Melbourne Cup start.
Even if Tanby does not make the Cup line-up, the signs were there yesterday that the Williams team will play a huge part in Tuesday's epic. The run of the runner-up, At First Sight, was undeniably a great Melbourne Cup trial. Lumping topweight of 58 kilograms, the horse that last year ran second in the Epsom Derby flashed home late from the rear of the field.
By running second it cannot be rehandicapped and so takes a relative postage-stamp weight of 52.5 kilograms into the Cup. Bookmakers reacted immediately by tightening his Melbourne Cup odds from $21 to $16.
Tanby, who has the Melbourne Cup limit weight of just 50 kilograms, yesterday started at $4 and had a soft margin at the finish over $3 favourite At First Sight, with 1╝ lengths to Gai Waterhouse's emerging stayer Western Symbol ($10).
Nine hours before the $200,000 Bendigo Cup, four more of Williams's Cup hopes took to the Bendigo track for a solid workout. The quartet of Midas Touch (fourth on the Cup elimination list), Linton (10th), Mourayan (12th) and Green Moon (34th) all went to Flemington the previous morning but earned their keep yesterday with testing gallops. ''They just went to Flemington for a look really,'' Williams's son Nick said. (www.theage.com.au)