Best Solution, Cross Counter and Avilius lead Godolphin charge in Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is the one big prize in horse racing that has eluded Godolphin over the years. But the Dubai racing operation have three horses competing today at the Flemington Racecourse that they hope will end their victory wait.
Their trio are being prepared by three different trainers in the shape of Best Solution (trained by Saeed bin Suroor), Cross Counter (Charlie Appleby), and Avilius (James Cummings).
Best Solution goes in to the A$7 million (Dh18.5m) Group 1 contest over the 3,200-metre trip having won four races on the trot, and the last three Group 1 prizes, including the Caulfield Cup in Australia three weeks ago.
“He is the right horse for the Melbourne Cup, he is very fit and he has held his form since he won the Caulfield Cup,” Bin Suroor said.
Bin Suroor came closest to landing the Melbourne Cup with runners up Central Park (in 1998), Give The Slip (2001) and Crime Scene (2009), and now Best Solution, ridden by Pat Cosgrave, has provided renewed hopes for the Emirati.
Appleby, who saddled the first Epsom Derby winner with Masar in the Godolphin silks in June, quietly fancies the chances of Cross Counter with the Australian jockey Kerrin McEvoy riding. “He’s a horse who is on an upward path, he’s in form and apart from one incident, he’s been come along nicely in Melbourne,” he said.
Cross Counter suffered a was a cut on a hind leg which healed well and barely interfered with colt’s preparation for a race which would be a highlight of a successful season for Appleby.
The Briton said: “To win the Melbourne Cup would be a fantastic feat for the entire organisation.”
Avilius under Glyn Schofield completes the Godolphin trio in the race. The four-year-old gelding formerly trained by Andre Fabre in France appears to have settled down well in Australia.