Vengeur’s Cup cloud

Lexus Stakes run on cards in late push to qualify for start

GEELONG Cup winner Vengeur Masque is set to race in the Group 3 Lexus Stakes on Saturday in a last-ditch effort to qualify for next week’s Melbourne Cup.

Trainer Mike Moroney will confer with Vengeur Masque’s owners in the coming days before deciding on a plan of attack after second acceptances yesterday left the six-year-old 30th in the Cup order of entry.

Only 24 runners will start in the race that stops a nation next Tuesday, meaning Moroney and Vengeur Masque’s connections would likely miss out on running in the Cup in consecutive years unless he wins the Lexus at Flemington.

The only other way in would be if six of the horses above him in the order of entry pull out between now and final acceptances on Saturday afternoon, which Moroney said was a risk he was unlikely to take.

“We’ll have to give it some thought but we might be forced to run the Lexus because of (the order of entry),” Moroney said.

“I’ll do that in conjunction with the owners and go through what we’re thinking and go through the others to see what we think may not run.

“My first thoughts are that they’ll want to run in the Lexus because we’re too far out. If we were 27th or 28th we might have taken the risk, but 30th is just a bit far out.”

Vengeur Masque received half a kilogram penalty for his half-head win over Gallic Chieftain at Geelong last week, giving him a weight of 50.5kg should he gain a run next Tuesday.

The last horse to back up with a victory in the Melbourne Cup after taking out the Lexus Stakes was Shocking in 2009, with Moroney’s stayer Brew achieving the double in 2000.

Moroney was quick to compare Vengeur Masque to Brew after his Geelong Cup win and said he was confident there would be no issues backing up and running out two miles after a three-day break.

“Our preferred option is to go straight to the Cup, so it’s not ideal but it’ll be easier to take the risk factor out of it,” he said.

“I think he’ll be pretty competitive at two miles.

“I’m pretty confident now that he’s learned to relax a little bit, which is what he had to do.

“He is a little bit stronger from last year, they were the two keys, and on Geelong Cup day he ticked both boxes.”

If Vengeur Masque earns a place in the Melbourne Cup, he will aim to become the fourth son of Monsun to win in the past five years, following Fiorente (2013), Protectionist (2014) and last year’s winner Almandin.