Champion jockey Damien Oliver was suitably impressed with Luca Cumani's Cups hope Cima De Triomphe when he rode the horse for the first time at Sandown on Friday.For the first time since their arrival last Saturday week, Cima De Triomphe worked together with stablemate Basaltico and they finished on terms at the end of a good hitout over 1400m."It was a nice piece of work and I liked the way he was able to go to the other horse when I asked him for an effort," Oliver said.He said Cima De Triomph
Champion jockey Damien Oliver was suitably impressed with Luca Cumani's Cups hope Cima De Triomphe when he rode the horse for the first time at Sandown on Friday.
For the first time since their arrival last Saturday week, Cima De Triomphe worked together with stablemate Basaltico and they finished on terms at the end of a good hitout over 1400m.
"It was a nice piece of work and I liked the way he was able to go to the other horse when I asked him for an effort," Oliver said.
He said Cima De Triomphe felt stronger than any of the other Cumani horses he had ridden over the past three years such as 2007 Melbourne Cup runner-up Purple Moon and Mad Rush who started favourite and ran seventh in last year's Melbourne Cup after a good run for fourth in the Caulfield Cup.
"They were a bit lightly-framed but this horse is bigger and stronger and I liked the way he worked," Oliver said.
Shortly after the gallop, Oliver spoke to Cumani by mobile phone at his Newmarket headquarters in England and gave him a favourable report.
"He is happy with the way the horse is going," Oliver said.
Oliver said he would probably have another ride on Cima De Triomphe early next week leading into the Caulfield Cup.
Cumani's travelling foreman Charlie Henson said Cima De Triomphe and Basaltico, who will run in the Geelong Cup on October 21, were so far doing everything right in their preparation.
Henson said that from a form point of view Cima De Triomphe was the best horse the stable had sent to Melbourne although he was not yet proven at distances beyond 2200m.
"Obviously we think he will handle the extra trip in the Caulfield Cup and then go on to the Melbourne Cup," he said.
The Godolphin pair Kirklees and Crime Scene cantered over about 1400m and Kirklees will have his final hitout on Monday for the Caulfield Cup with his race rider Kerrin McEvoy in the saddle.
McEvoy won last year's Caulfield Cup on Godolphin's 40-1 shot All The Good.
Meanwhile, Munsef, Changingoftheguard, Warringah and stalemates Mourilyan and Bankable arrive on Saturday.
All are in the Melbourne Cup except for Bankable whose mission is the Mackinnon Stakes.
Irish jockey Eddie Ahern will ride Munsef, trained in the UK by Ian Williams, in the Melbourne Cup.
He is unbeaten in two rides on the horse, over 2414m at Ascot in July and in the Listed Chester Stakes (2696m) in August.
Last start the eight-year-old travelled to Sweden and ran second in the Group Three Stockholm International (2400m) on September 13.
Changingoftheguard has been bought out of the Aidan O'Brien stable and will be trained by David Hayes while Warringah, formerly with Sir Michael Stoute, will be prepared by Chris Waller.