MUNSEF THRILLS TRAINER IAN WILLIAMS ON HIS ARRIVAL FROM UK

ENGLISH trainer Ian Williams was thrilled with the appearance of his Emirates Melbourne Cup hope Munsef when he saw him for the first time in three weeks at Sandown this morning.

Williams, who arrived in Melbourne last night (Thursday) on his first visit to Australia, said the
horse looked better than he could have imagined.

“The horse just looks great and Dawn (handler Dawn Oxley) must take full credit for the way she’s
looked after him.

“For the first time since we decided to bring him to Australia, the Melbourne Cup now seems very real,” Williams said.

“Naturally we’ve all heard about the Melbourne Cup and I’ve read a couple of books about it but now that we’ve got the horse here fit and ready to run, it’s all very exciting.”

Munsef did a strong canter over about 1600 metres yesterday and Williams is confident he will give a good account of himself on Tuesday.

“We wouldn’t have come if we didn’t think he had a realistic chance of winning,” Williams said.

South African trainer Herman Brown has lost the battle to have Bankable ready for the Emirates Stakes tomorrow week after the horse suffered a colic attack last night.

“I think it must have had something to do with the dramatic rise in temperature (on Thursday)
because the barn he’s in got very hot and he was sweating badly,” Brown said.

Bankable, which was originally going to run in tomorrow’s Mackinnon Stakes before suffering an injury to the off foreleg, recovered from the colic attack after veterinary treatment but it has ended any hopes of him running in the Emirates.

On the other hand, Brown could not be happier with his Melbourne Cup hope Mourilyan which only
did light exercise yesterday.

The David Hayes-trained Changingoftheguard was taken over to the 1000 metres chute for most of
his exercise this morning after his gallop yesterday.

Hayes’ foreman Gary Fennessy said the turf was lush and softer in the chute just in case the horse
might have been a little stiff after yesterday’s gallop but he had come through it without any
problems.

“It’s all systems go for the Cup,” Fennessy said.

The Luca Cumani-trained Cima de Triomphe had a light canter in preparation for tomorrow’s
Mackinnon Stakes but the Cumani camp is despairing of getting a start with Basaltico in the
Melbourne Cup.

Cumani’s travelling foreman Charlie Henson said if Basaltico did not get a run he was almost
certain to start in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Flemington tomorrow week.


RACING VICTORIA MEDIA RELEASE

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