Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Mike Moroney faces a race against time to have longshot Alenquer ready for Tuesday's Group 1 3200-metre feature with the stable advising Racing Victoria stewards that the gelding suffered a stone bruise after trackwork on Sunday morning.
Rated a $61 chance, Alenquer is set to be Damien Oliver's final Melbourne Cup ride, the 32nd of his career that comes to an end in December.
A hoof pad will be applied for the next 24-hours and the gelding will be examined again by veterinarians on Monday as a part of mandatory pre-race inspections.
Alenquer's last victory was in the Group 1 Tattersall's Gold Cup (about 2100 metres) in Ireland in May 2022 and has since gone winless in eight starts across France and Australia.
Alenquer drew barrier nine in the field of 24 for the $8 million highlight.
"It'll be great to be a part of his fairy tale, wouldn't it," Moroney said after the Cup barrier draw on Saturday.
"Don't mind being a part of that. He's had 31 rides and I've had 24 runners so we're both seasoned."
Moroney trained Brew to victory in the Melbourne Cup in 2000.
![Racing and Sports Racing and Sports](https://resource3.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/img/layout/rns-logo-white.png)
FP | Silk | Horse, Age & Sex Sire & Dam |
Jockey Trainer |
SP
WT |
|||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st |
![]() |
3. WITHOUT A FIGHT (IRE) 6yo G TEOFILO (IRE) - KHOR SHEED (GB) |
MARK ZAHRA A & S FREEDMAN |
$8
56.5kg |
|||||||
Sheikh Mohammed Obaid al Maktoum | |||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
2nd |
![]() |
6. SOULCOMBE (GB) 4yo G FRANKEL (GB) - RIBBONS (GB) |
JOAO MOREIRA CHRIS WALLER |
$9.5
53.5kg |
|||||||
A Kheir, J A O'Neill, Carty Racing, S A Lewin, V Kheir, T R Maddern, B D Nettlefold, D Edmonds, A K Racing, B A Secatore, Mrs R T Secatore, B J O'Brien, Bromfield Park Pty Ltd, Punt Road End, N A Greenhalgh, Mrs M T Greenhalgh, Sneesby Racing, Sir M Arbib, B G Arbib & C M Budgett | |||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
3rd |
![]() |
14. SHERAZ (FR) 6yo G SEA THE STARS (IRE) - SHEMIYLA (FR) |
BEAU MERTENS CHRIS WALLER |
$151
51.5kg |
|||||||
G C Sneesby, Mrs J T Sneesby, N A Greenhalgh, Mrs M T Greenhalgh, I Bruce, P Aspropotamitis, Platinum Dream (S Westwood), Jalana (D Gremmo), G W Aldridge, A T Avramides, Mrs S Avramides, Muzben Racing (B Stewart), M Grech, Kirk Thoroughbred Racing (G P Kirk) & G G's Shout (D Gremmo) | |||||||||||
4th |
![]() |
11. ASHRUN (FR) 7yo G AUTHORIZED (IRE) - ASHANTEE (GER) |
KERRIN MCEVOY CIARON MAHER & DAVID EUSTACE |
$26
51.5kg |
|||||||
|
|||||||||||
5th |
![]() |
12. DAQIANSWEET JUNIOR (NZ) 6yo G SWEET ORANGE (USA) - PAULETTE (NZ) |
DANIEL STACKHOUSE PHILLIP STOKES |
$51
51.5kg |
|||||||
|
|||||||||||
6th |
![]() |
22. INTERPRETATION (IRE) 5yo G GALILEO (IRE) - DALDIYNA (FR) |
TEODORE NUGENT CIARON MAHER & DAVID EUSTACE |
$41
50kg |
|||||||
|
|||||||||||
7th |
![]() |
7. ABSURDE (FR) 5yo G FASTNET ROCK (AUS) - INCROYABLE (USA) |
ZAC PURTON WILLIE MULLINS |
$9
53kg |
|||||||
|
|||||||||||
8th |
![]() |
24. TRUE MARVEL (FR) 7yo G MASKED MARVEL (GB) - ANECDOTIQUE (FR) |
BEN THOMPSON MATTHEW SMITH |
$151
50kg |
|||||||
9th |
![]() |
9. VOW AND DECLARE (AUS) 8yo G DECLARATION OF WAR (USA) - GEBLITZT (AUS) |
BILLY EGAN DANNY O'BRIEN |
$31
53kg |
|||||||
|
|||||||||||
10th |
![]() |
17. MILITARY MISSION (IRE) 5yo G MASTERCRAFTSMAN (IRE) - ATLANTIC ISLE (GER) |
RACHEL KING G WATERHOUSE & A BOTT |
$26
51kg |
|||||||
|
|||||||||||
11th |
![]() |
13. OKITA SOUSHI (IRE) 5yo H GALILEO (IRE) - AMICUS (AUS) |
DYLAN GIBBONS JOSEPH O'BRIEN |
$101
51.5kg |
|||||||
|
|||||||||||
12th |
![]() |
20. MORE FELONS (IRE) 4yo G CHURCHILL (IRE) - PIVOTALIA (IRE) |
JAMIE KAH CHRIS WALLER |
$26
50.5kg |
|||||||
|
|||||||||||
13th |
![]() |
15. LASTOTCHKA (FR) 4yo F MYBOYCHARLIE (IRE) - MUTHLA (FR) |
CRAIG WILLIAMS MICK PRICE & MICHAEL KENT JNR |
$26
51kg |
|||||||
|
|||||||||||
14th |
![]() |
5. VAUBAN (FR) 5yo G GALIWAY (GB) - WALDFEST (GB) |
RYAN MOORE WILLIE MULLINS |
$5.5
55kg |
|||||||
15th |
![]() |
21. FUTURE HISTORY (GB) 5yo G SHOWCASING (GB) - LIKELIHOOD (USA) |
HOLLIE DOYLE CIARON MAHER & DAVID EUSTACE |
$18
50kg |
|||||||
|
|||||||||||
16th |
![]() |
4. BREAKUP (JPN) 5yo H NOVELLIST (IRE) - LITTLE JUN (JPN) |
KOHEI MATSUYAMA TATSUYA YOSHIOKA |
$17
55kg |
|||||||
17th |
![]() |
1. GOLD TRIP (FR) 6yo H OUTSTRIP (GB) - SARVANA (FR) |
JAMES MCDONALD CIARON MAHER & DAVID EUSTACE |
$6.5
58.5kg |
|||||||
|
|||||||||||
18th |
![]() |
19. VIRTUOUS CIRCLE (NZ) 4yo H ALMANZOR (FR) - SHE IS STRYKING (AUS) |
CRAIG NEWITT LIAM HOWLEY |
$151
51kg |
|||||||
|
|||||||||||
19th |
![]() |
18. SERPENTINE (IRE) 6yo G GALILEO (IRE) - REMEMBER WHEN (IRE) |
JYE MCNEIL G WATERHOUSE & A BOTT |
$41
51kg |
|||||||
20th |
![]() |
23. KALAPOUR (IRE) 6yo G WAR COMMAND (USA) - KALADENA (IRE) |
ZAC LLOYD KRIS LEES |
$41
50kg |
|||||||
21st |
![]() |
2. ALENQUER (FR) 5yo G ADLERFLUG (GER) - WILD BLOSSOM (GER) |
DAMIEN OLIVER MICHAEL MORONEY |
$21
56.5kg |
|||||||
|
|||||||||||
22nd |
![]() |
16. MAGICAL LAGOON (IRE) 4yo F GALILEO (IRE) - NIGHT LAGOON (GER) |
MARK DU PLESSIS CHRIS WALLER |
$101
51kg |
|||||||
|
|||||||||||
FF |
![]() |
8. RIGHT YOU ARE (AUS) 7yo G SO YOU THINK (NZ) - LEICA DING (AUS) |
JOHN ALLEN CIARON MAHER & DAVID EUSTACE |
$26
53kg |