3 minute read
The two Willie Mullins-trained Melbourne Cup contenders Vauban and Absurde have fared positively in the Lexus Melbourne Cup draw, with the former drawn in stall three and the latter in stall eight.
Vauban is a general 5/2 shot to land the 'race that stops a nation' at Flemington on Tuesday following impressive winning performances in the Copper Horse Handicap at Royal Ascot and Group 3 Ballyroan Stakes at Naas.
The high-class five-year-old will be joined by stablemate Absurde, who arrives after giving Frankie Dettori a fairytale York send-off in the Ebor in August. Absurde had previously finished seven and a half lengths behind Vauban in the aforementioned Royal Ascot contest but Willie Mullins doubts there will be that much of a margin at Flemington on Tuesday.
"I think it's going to be a different race and I think Absurde is going to be a different horse as well," added the Irish trainer on racing.com.
"He's learned to settle a good bit more and now that he's got a nice draw, I think he'll be able to put him where he wants him and that'll make a huge difference.
"There were probably 20 lengths between them passing the winning post the first time around at Royal Ascot, there won't be that here, I hope."
Mullins' previous Melbourne Cup contestant Max Dynamite filled the runner-up spot back in 2015 but the Closutton-based trainer will be hoping to go one better this time around with recent Breeders' Cup-winning rider Ryan Moore doing the steering.
Mullins said: "I think he's as good as Max Dynamite and maybe better, we'll find out that on Tuesday.
"It's our strongest chance ever, it probably will be my strongest chance ever.
"We wouldn't want to forget Absurde either, he did it very well with Frankie [Dettori] in the Ebor, Frankie gave him a terrific ride there.
"He has quarantined very well, and I think he's in great shape."
Absurde will be partnered by Zac Purton next Tuesday, while Dettori, who is yet to add the Melbourne Cup to this sparkling CV, will miss the meeting due to a ban he picked up riding at Ascot on Champions Day.
Dual Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Joseph O'Brien relies on Royal Ascot Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes scorer Okita Soushi, but the five-year-old will have to defy stall 20 and a disappointing last-time-out effort in the Caulfield Cup to give O'Brien a third cup success.
Last year's winner Gold Trip has been drawn next to market leader Vauban in stall two, with the former Simon and Ed Crisford-trained Without A Fight, who will carry a 1kg penalty after narrowly landing the Caulfield Cup last month, starting his Melbourne Cup bid from gate sixteen.