Trainer Danny O'Brien is confident of building on his Melbourne Cup team with Gallopin in Saturday's Moonee Valley Cup.O'Brien already has last year's Caulfield Cup winner Master O'Reilly and last week's Caulfield Cup third placegetter Barbaricus on target for the Cup and Gallopin is primed to join them.O'Brien said he expected Gallopin to win the Moonee Valley Cup (2500m) and the gelding could then climb from his current place at 41 in the order of the entry with a penalty for the Melbourne Cup

Trainer Danny O'Brien is confident of building on his Melbourne Cup team with Gallopin in Saturday's Moonee Valley Cup.

O'Brien already has last year's Caulfield Cup winner Master O'Reilly and last week's Caulfield Cup third placegetter Barbaricus on target for the Cup and Gallopin is primed to join them.

O'Brien said he expected Gallopin to win the Moonee Valley Cup (2500m) and the gelding could then climb from his current place at 41 in the order of the entry with a penalty for the Melbourne Cup.

"This is really the D-day run for him for this spring," O'Brien said.

"If he is going to have any chance in the Melbourne Cup he needs to win the Moonee Valley Cup."

Gallopin has shown encouraging form at his four starts this spring and O'Brien said he didn't handle the heavy ground last start at Randwick where he finished fourth to Moonee Valley Cup topweight Newport in The Metropolitan Hcp (2400m).

At his previous start he was beaten just over a length when fifth to Zagreb in the Listed Naturalism Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield .

"We are going in with no excuses," O'Brien said.

"I am very happy with the horse, he will be racing on a lovely surface and has a good draw (four)."

James Winks, who won his first Group One race when he landed the Yalumba Stakes on the O'Brien-trained Douro Valley, will ride Gallopin.

Dan Nikolic rode the five-year-old son of Pins in The Metropolitan.

Gallopin has won seven of his 17 starts and at his only previous start at 2500 metres won the Bagot Handicap at Flemington on New Year's Day.

It was after that win that O'Brien targeted the Cup with Gallopin.

TAB Sportsbet quoted Gallopin at $7 for the Moonee Valley Cup and $151 for the Melbourne Cup.

Master O'Reilly, who finished seventh to All The Good in the Caulfield Cup, is $23 to win Saturday's Cox Plate (2040m) and $18 for the Melbourne Cup while Barbaricus is $31 for the Cup.

Lee Freedman has replaced blinkers with a visor on Cefalu who last start finished third to Dolphin Jo in the Group Two Winning Edge Presentations Stakes (2400m) at Caulfield.

Freedman said that Cefalu's liking for the Valley gave him some advantage.

David Hayes is upbeat about the chances of Largo Lad who he scratched from last Wednesday's Geelong Cup because of a wide barrier.

"He has drawn wide (15) again but it is a nice race for him and I think he will run very well," Hayes said.