Robert Hickmott preparing challenging campaign for Melbourne Cup prospect Revelare

Trainer Robert Hickmott will chase a Melbourne Cup berth with promising stayer Revelare but acknowledges it could be a tough road ahead.

Revelare emerged as an exciting staying prospect with five wins in a row last prep. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

Dual Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Robert Hickmott has realistic expectations on Revelare.

The aspiring spring stayer, a six-time winner from eight starts, is set to have a jumpout at Ballarat on Thursday.

Revelare has not been sighted publicly since winning at Flemington on March 1, before an untimely illness thwarted a bid to contest the Cup-qualifying Roy Higgins Quality.

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Revelare sparked early Cups potential chatter with five wins on the trot, going from 0-64 at Seymour to BM84 Flemington success, in eight weeks.

“He’s matured a hell of a lot,” Hickmott said.

“He’s got to go a long way to even think about getting into a Melbourne Cup or anything like that … but so far so good.

“He’s been a bit lazy the old boy at home, so it will be nice to poke around on the Poly (track) to get him up and about a bit.”

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Hickmott has the Cup-qualifying The Bart Cummings (2500m) – October 4 at Flemington – lined up as the “main goal” to get into the race that stops a nation.

Revelare makes it FIVE wins in a row 🔥@[e-mail]/RrisYZlXnF

— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) March 1, 2025

Hickmott conceded Revelare potentially faced “a very hard” Caulfield program, including a 1600m Benchmark 100, Listed Heatherlie Stakes (1700m) and Group 3 Foundation Cup (2000m) before The Bart Cummings at Flemington.

Hickmott, who trained Melbourne Cup winners Green Moon (2012) and Almandin (2016), is realistic about the task ahead of Revelare.

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“Hope he can handle Caulfield, otherwise we’re in a bit of strife,” Hickmott said.

“He’s shown good versatility the horse, for a lightly-raced horse, he’s ticking a lot of boxes.

“You got to take into account (Revelare has) off-season racing (form), Benchmark racing, although he broke track records.

“He’s still got to come up from preparation to preparation … who knows? Only time will tell.”

Revelare, set for only a soft jumpout on Thursday, more so to stretch the legs, is $34 in pre-nominations Cup markets.

Originally published as Robert Hickmott preparing challenging campaign for Melbourne Cup prospect Revelare