Douro in doubt

Last year's Caulfield Cup runner-up Douro Valley is in danger of not getting a start in this year's race.

The seven-year-old was equal 22nd on the latest order of entry list to gain a start in next month's feature, which has a capacity field of 18.

Should stablemate Alexander Of Hales, Tuesday Joy and Zipping, whose connections have expressed doubts about starting in the race, all be withdrawn, that would only lift Douro Valley up to equal 19th.

However, there are still another four races this spring which offer the winner automatic entry into the Cup - the Turnbull Stakes (2000m), Winning Edge Presentation Stakes (2400m), the Yalumba Stakes (2000m) and the Toorak Handicap (1600m).

Should any horses around him get a weight penalty by winning a 1600m-plus race worth more than $60,000 to the winner, they could also climb above Douro Valley in the pecking order.

Other horses on the cusp of the field include internationally-trained gallopers Mad Rush (20th) and All The Good (22nd), and Bart Cummings' pair Viewed (22nd) and Moatize (36th).

They may require the Melbourne Racing Club to use its discretionary power to get them into the race.

The most notable use of such powers was in 1998 when the then Victorian Amateur Turf Club lifted unqualified English stayer and subsequent winner Taufan's Melody into the field at the expense of the highly fancied Our Unicorn.