Melbourne Cup roughie Harris Tweed will be out to salvage a disastrous spring for father and son training team Murray and Bjorn Baker.The Bakers travelled across the Tasman with four horses they hoped could play major roles in some of Australia's richest races but Harris Tweed is the only one left standing."Nom Du Jeu didn't come up, he's been retired," Bjorn Baker said of the 2008 AJC Australian Derby winner."We had Mr Tipsy, once again a well-credentialled horse, he didn't show his best and he
Melbourne Cup roughie Harris Tweed will be out to salvage a disastrous spring for father and son training team Murray and Bjorn Baker.
The Bakers travelled across the Tasman with four horses they hoped could play major roles in some of Australia's richest races but Harris Tweed is the only one left standing.
"Nom Du Jeu didn't come up, he's been retired," Bjorn Baker said of the 2008 AJC Australian Derby winner.
"We had Mr Tipsy, once again a well-credentialled horse, he didn't show his best and he's out in the spelling paddock and we had a horse called Mountain Road that broke a leg in trackwork at Randwick when preparing for the Newcastle Cup and the Metropolitan.
"It hasn't been too much fun so it would be nice to turn it around with this one."
Harris Tweed is considered one of the outsiders in Tuesday's Cup and is a $101 chance with TAB Sportsbet.
The four-year-old had his first three lead-up runs at home in New Zealand before travelling across the Tasman for the Caulfield Cup in which he finished 10th to Melbourne Cup favourite Viewed.
Bjorn Baker took some heart from the effort and said Harris Tweed had improved noticeably since then.
"Couldn't be happier. He's come on a long way from the Caulfield Cup," Baker said.
"I didn't think it was that bad a run.
"He was a tad slow away and they came across him but he was still staying on at the end and one thing about him is he will stay."
That was Harris Tweed's most recent run and Baker said it was always their plan to go straight from Cup to Cup.
"He's a lightly-framed horse so he's probably better suited to do that as opposed to having a run in between," he said.
While two of Harris Tweed's three wins have been on rain-affected ground, Baker doesn't believe he needs a wet track to show his best.
He pointed to his second placing to Cup third-pick Roman Emperor on a dead track in the AJC Australian Derby in April, an effort the Bakers hope Harris Tweed can replicate at Flemington.
"When you've got a 100-1 shot you try to take any positives you can and the formline around Roman Emperor obviously gives us hope," Baker said.
"It would be great (to win).... but we just hope he runs a good race tomorrow.
"The horse is well and we'll enjoy it win, lose or draw. It's great to be involved."
Three horses have claimed the Cup as 100-1 shots - The Pearl (1870), Wotan (1936) and Old Rowley (1940)- and Baker isn't dismissing Harris Tweed's claims to becoming the fourth.
"Why not? I think he's a little bit better than a 100-1 shot anyway," he said.
One thing is for sure, if Harris Tweed does defy the expectations of punters, Baker will have no problem spending some of the winnings.
He went shopping on Monday for a new shirt to wear to Flemington and has his sights set on completing his spring carnival outfit.
"I need a new suit but I can't afford one, the horses have been too slow," Baker said.
"Maybe come Wednesday we'll be buying a new suit."