Waterhouse labels tough-as-teak Cismontane a real contender

GAI Waterhouse is adamant Lexus Stakes winner Cismontane is a legitimate Melbourne Cup contender, optimistic the tough gelding can complete a meteoric rise with victory on Tuesday.

Chasing her second Mel- bourne Cup triumph — and co-trainer Adrian Bott’s first — Waterhouse said Cismontane’s stamina and courage will count for plenty in the Cup.

“This horse is as tough as teak and as honest as the day is long,’’ Waterhouse said.

“Of course he will back up on Tuesday. He is in the field now and you have a chance because you are in the race.

“It will be very hard to win, with the compressed weights these days it is even harder than ever, but we have a horse that will try his heart out.

“It is so exciting for the owners, so exciting for Adrian and I, the people who work with us at the stables because so much work goes into getting a horse ready for a Melbourne Cup.

“Cismontane everywhere.

“He was down here, we took him back to Sydney for the St Leger, he ran third there and has been third again last week in the Moonee Valley Cup. He thrives on his racing.”

Waterhouse and Bott will combine with their second Cup runner after 2015 Lexus winner Excess Knowledge finished 16th last year.

Waterhouse, then training alone, won the Cup with Fio- rente in 2013. Lexus victory catapulted lightly-raced Cismontane into the Cup field and he will now attempt to join Shocking (2009) and Brew (2000) as winners of both the Lexus and Cup.

The triumph prompted TAB to slash Cismontane’s odds from $151 to $31.