Last year's AJC Australian Derby winner Fiumicino will arrive in Melbourne on Wednesday morning for Saturday's Caulfield Cup.The Hawkes training team of Hall of Famer John and his sons Michael and Wayne has kept its faith in the five-year-old son of Zabeel who shocked the stable when he finished near last in The Metropolitan Hcp (2400m) after showing promising form earlier in the spring.The wet track was blamed for his failure but Wayne Hawkes is under no illusions that a huge form reversal is n

Last year's AJC Australian Derby winner Fiumicino will arrive in Melbourne on Wednesday morning for Saturday's Caulfield Cup.

The Hawkes training team of Hall of Famer John and his sons Michael and Wayne has kept its faith in the five-year-old son of Zabeel who shocked the stable when he finished near last in The Metropolitan Hcp (2400m) after showing promising form earlier in the spring.

The wet track was blamed for his failure but Wayne Hawkes is under no illusions that a huge form reversal is needed for Fiumicino to figure in the Caulfield Cup.

"It is a pretty weak excuse saying that he found a wet track when he won a Derby on a heavy track but Glen Boss said he didn't handle it one inch the other day," Hawkes said.

"Sometimes horses get older and they don't like it and Flavour and Sports are two horses that come to mind that fit in to the category.

"Maybe it is the same thing with Fiumicino."

Hawkes said the hopes were that Fiumicino would have had a similar form line to Railings who won the 2005 Caulfield Cup for the stable after winning The Metropolitan Hcp at his previous start.

"You don't like going to a Caulfield Cup with bad run that's for sure," Hawkes said.

"You need a pretty big form reversal, and going from a terrible last start run to a next start win happens very rarely."

The last horse to win the Caulfield Cup coming off an unplaced run was Might And Power (1997) who finished eighth in the Epsom Handicap.

Nick Moraitis owned Might And Power and is also the owner of Fiumicino.

Fiumicino has raced only 15 times for four wins with the equine influenza outbreak limiting him to one run last spring and three-starts in Melbourne last autumn.

"With the EI we never really pushed him too much and he's only had a handful of starts," Hawkes said.

He said Fiumicino had the class to still be a factor in the big spring races as evidenced by his win in the weight-for-age Hill Stakes (1900m) at Rosehill on September 20.

It was his third run this campaign and a leadup to his eye-catching third to Get Up Jude in the Colin Stephen Hcp (2400m) before The Metropolitan.

TAB Sportsbet has Fiumicino at $41 for the Caulfield Cup and Hawkes said the hope was now for a firm track on Saturday.

"If he just didn't handle the wet track last time and gets back to his form of month ago then he would be a chance in the Caulfield Cup," Hawkes said.

"He has got the class and has won at the distance so he's still got a few things going for him."