The scratching of Speed Gifted from next Tuesday's $5.65 million Emirates Melbourne Cup has given trainer Danny O'Brien a boost in his bid to get the lightly-weighted Vigor into the Cup field.
When Third Declarations were taken on Monday, Vigor was ranked 29th in order for a start in the 24-horse field but with Speed Gifted now out, the five-year-old is now tantalisingly close to being guaranteed a start with natural attrition expected to see others ranked ahead of him fall by the wayside.
O'Brien admitted on Tuesday it was fine balancing act and that he had to keep some options up his sleeve.
"The horse is in great shape which is going to make it a bit frustrating if he doesn't get in but we've still got the option of rolling the dice on Saturday if we have to so we might well have to accept for the Lexus (prev Saab Quality). The horse is going particularly well. If it comes down to the fact that we have to run him to get him in, we'll have to do it," O'Brien said.
As for the possibility of the VRC Board using their discretion to include Vigor in the field, O'Brien said he doubted it would come to that.
"Everyone knows the rules and the ballot. Obviously the Board would step in if there was something that looked right out of order but we know where we're at. We've got to play by the rules and do our best," O'Brien said.
O'Brien is also delighted with the progress of his other Cup runner, 2007 Caulfield Cup winner Master O'Reilly who'll contest his third successive Melbourne Cup after finishing eighth in 2007 and fourth last year.
"His work's been terrific and his Caulfield Cup run was good. We're going to do something a little different this year, we are going to run him on the Saturday in the Mackinnon (Stakes) just to give him that one more run before the two miles. He's going every bit as well as he was going last year when he ran probably an unlucky fourth and I'm sure he'll be right in the finish again."