Why one of this year’s Melbourne Cup favourites might not run; Gai tries to teach Vauban manners

One of the favourites for the Melbourne Cup, Buckaroo, is rated no better than a 50/50 chance to run in this year’s race.

The Cox Plate runner-up has passed Racing Victoria’s mandatory veterinary scans, but connections will wait right up to Saturday afternoon’s deadline for final acceptances before deciding whether Buckaroo will start in Australian racing’s most famous event.

Trainer Chris Waller has left the final call to the owners, headed by prominent owner Ozzie Kheir. Their decision will play a key role in shaping the Melbourne Cup market, as Buckaroo is fourth favourite, rated an $8 chance behind joint favourites Al Riffa and Half Yours.

Waller will be familiar with Buckaroo’s Cup situation after going through a similar episode with his 2021 winner Verry Elleegant.

Like Verry Elleegant, Buckaroo placed in the Cox Plate at his previous start, finished in the top 10 of the Melbourne Cup the year before after settling near the rear, and has a similar ownership group.

“[It’s] 50/50 at the moment,” Waller said on Tuesday morning at Flemington.

“There’s a lot of discussions still going on. He had a tough race last year. He didn’t come through it that well, but there were reasons for it. He had covered a lot of ground and came from a long way back and just peaked on his run.

“He’s been with us for a long time, so we’ve just got to make sure we get it right, so we’re trying to go through an analytical approach to make sure that we know that he’s gonna not only run in the Melbourne Cup but be capable of winning a Melbourne Cup.”

Waller said Buckaroo had not been trained for the Melbourne Cup, but was instead set for the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate. However, he said he was confident the horse would have the stamina for the two-mile staying test.

Buckaroo ran superstar mare Via Sistina to a nose in the Cox Plate, which has proven a strong form race recently to the Melbourne Cup.

Asked how he thought Buckaroo would run in the Cup if he started, Waller said: “He’d go close, he’d go very close.”

Adding further intrigue to the decision, Buckaroo’s owners have an enticing fallback option – the $3 million Champions Stakes on the final day of the Flemington carnival – and they have two other runners in the Cup, the $7 third favourite Valiant King and outsider Birdman.

Both are trained by Waller, who could have as many as six starters. He also has Caulfield Cup runner-up River Of Stars, More Felons and Land Legend.

Valiant King stamped himself as a genuine Melbourne Cup hope by coming from last and finishing third in the Caulfield Cup. He worked at Flemington with Cup-winning hoop Jye McNeil aboard.

“Jye is buzzing, he said he’s he feels great,” Waller said. “He rode him this morning, he said his action’s fantastic. He’s a happy horse. He came off the track squealing, so [that’s a] great sign and we’re very happy with him.”

Jockey Craig Williams will ride either Buckaroo or Birdman.

Waterhouse confident of cure for Vauban’s poor mounting yard manners

Trainer Gai Waterhouse says former international raider Vauban is over the mounting-yard meltdowns that derailed his two previous tilts at the Melbourne Cup.

Waterhouse and her training partner, Adrian Bott, have worked to correct Vauban’s behaviour by getting him to walk laps of the Randwick mounting yard on non race days.

Waterhouse is confident they have found the cure, but there is no substitute for the real thing on Cup Day when nearly 100,000 will flock to Flemington.

“He gets into a tizz in the mounting yard, does he ever,” Waterhouse said on Tuesday. “But we worked and worked and worked on it and pray on the big day all that he learned as an older horse will stay there. But you never know.

“They’re animals we’re dealing with. We’re not dealing with human beings. We can’t write the script and say ‘do it’. We can write the script and say ‘please do it’, and hopefully he’ll do it.”

The name Vauban will elicit mixed emotions for many once-a-year punters. Formerly trained by Irishman Willie Mullins, Vauban started favourite in 2023 only to finish 14th, and was second-favourite last year when he ran 11th.

He will start at a much longer price on Tuesday after unplaced runs in his past three starts, including a disappointing 13th in the Caulfield Cup when he was prominent in the market.

“He’s very quirky,” Waterhouse said. “You gotta keep him happy, you gotta keep him so you don’t get on his nerves.

“He’s got his space and he likes it, and he’s fit, and he’ll run much better than Caulfield. He got on the wrong diagonal, couldn’t quite straighten up.”

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