Surprise Baby leading chance

The Wimmera’s Melbourne Cup hopeful Surprise Baby might go straight into the time-honoured handicap without another leadup run.

Surprise Baby remains among the leading contenders for the 2020 Melbourne Cup, despite finishing ninth in a key race at the weekend.

Horsham trainer Paul Preusker has the options of starting Surprise Baby in the Cox Plate on October 24 or taking a fresh approach to the Melbourne Cup on November 3.

Preusker’s partner and stable spokeswoman Holly Mckechnie said the trainer and Surprise Baby’s owners were in no rush to decide the next step for the lightly raced gelding.

“I’m not sure whether Paul will pop another run in before the Cup, he was pretty unlucky the other day,” Mckechnie said.

Surprise Baby never saw clear running in Saturday’s Turnbull Stakes at Flemington, finishing ninth in a blanket finish behind star mare Verry Elleegent.

The Turnbull was run over 2000 metres, and Surprise Baby is expected to thrive over the extra 1200 metres in the Melbourne Cup.

“He has done well since the Turnbull run and so he should, he didn’t really get a gutbuster or anything,” Mckechnie said.

She said Surprise Baby had been kept fresh throughout the spring and was already a proven performer over the two-mile distance of the Cup.

Surprise Baby won the 2019

Adelaide Cup over 3200m at just its fifth race start and was luckless in the 2019 Melbourne Cup behind Vow And Declare.

Leading jockey Craig Williams, who has been travelling to Horsham to ride Surprise Baby in trackwork, said the gelding’s performance in the Turnbull Stakes should do nothing to dampen the enthusiasm for a Cup tilt.

“I was happy… he went well enough and he’ll take a lot out of that. He will look better next time too,” Williams said after the race.

Surprise Baby is listed as a $10 chance to clinch the Melbourne Cup in latest betting markets.