Lexus joy for Gai

Gai Waterhouse will have a runner she believes can stem the European tide in the Melbourne Cup with Cismontane sealing his place with victory in the Lexus Stakes at Flemington.

Yesterday’s Lexus over 2500 metres, three days before the Cup, is the last chance to earn a guaranteed berth and Cismontane’s staying credentials were truly tested with Stephen Baster sending him straight to the front.

He set up a strong tempo and just when it looked as if he would be swamped, the five-year-old kept going to the line to dent the Cup dreams of connections of Vengeur Masque who finished a short neck second with Pentathlon, who briefly looked the winner, another short head third.

“It’s so exciting,” Waterhouse, who trains in partnership with Adrian Bott, said.

“He will go to the Cup. That’s been the plan all along.”

Waterhouse won the Cup (3200m) four years ago with the imported Fiorente but Cismontane is a throwback to the colonial breed by shuttle stallion High Chaparral out of New Zealand mare Viviane.

Vengeur Masque’s former Kiwi trainer Mike Moroney said his owners would pay up in the hopes of a Cup start because of attrition with Jon Snow failing a veterinary examination.

Fellow New Zealand trainer John Wheeler is resigned to missing the Cup with Pentathlon, after his veteran galloper flashed home for third.

The TAB cut Cismontane from $151 to $31 for Tuesday’s Cup.