‘As good a thing I’ve seen’: Williams declares Cup favourite the one to beat

Melbourne Cup favourite Vauban is “as good a thing” to have come out of Europe for the race, according to prominent owner Nick Williams, whose father Lloyd has won the famous race seven times.

Vauban drew barrier three on Saturday evening for Tuesday’s Cup, and remains the horse to beat according to bookmakers, while stablemate Absurde will jump from gate eight.

Irish trainer Willie Mullins at Saturday’s barrier draw at Flemington.Credit: Getty Images

Caulfield Cup winner Without A Fight drew barrier 16, while last year’s winner Gold Trip will jump from gate two. Soulcombe, who missed the start in the Caulfield Cup, scored barrier four.

Williams, who will be represented by Cleveland (barrier 23) and Serpentine (barrier one) as the family chases its eighth Cup, said the Willie Mullins-trained stayer looked awfully hard to beat.

“Obviously, the favourite looks like it’s probably a good thing, but stranger things have happened,” Williams said.

“I think it’s as good a thing as I’ve seen in the Melbourne Cup, that I can remember.

“This is a tough, older horse. This is a properly seasoned, beautifully conditioned horse.

“Those three horses at the top, Gold Trip, Without A Fight and Vauban, certainly they’ve got a lot of class on the field. We’ll see what pans out on the day. They are three fantastic horses.”

Mullins, who arrived in Melbourne from Ireland on Saturday morning and visited his horses at Werribee, said he may never have a better Cup chance than Vauban. It’s 30 years since the cup first went to the northern hemisphere, with Vintage Crop and Irish great Dermot Weld in 1993.

Vauban is the race favourite for Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup.Credit: Racing Photos / Getty Images

Mullins has twice placed in the Cup, with Max Dynamite, in 2015 and 2017.

“He’s the best chance we’ve ever had and will ever have,” Mullins said of Vauban.

“I love having favourites. You’ve got the best chance if you’ve got the favourite.

“At one time I used to hate having favourites because it brings pressure, but now I don’t. I’d rather have the favourite than an outsider.”

Asked whether Vauban has beaten the handicapper, Mullins said: “I think we still have a few pounds left in the tank, yeah.

“We’ve got a nice draw. Everything has gone right,” he added.

“The quarantine has gone right, the draw’s gone right. We just need to break now and get into a position, but I’ll leave that to the jockeys. They know the track and opposition better than I do. We’ve done our job now.”

Japanese galloper Breakup.Credit: Getty Images

Japanese horse Breakup drew barrier 18, and trainer Tatsuya Yoshioka - speaking via a translator - said that would suit the horse.

He didn’t finish off well in the Caulfield Cup, but Yoshioka put that down to a hot tempo and being first-up from a long break. He said Breakup would improve to 3200 metres and to Flemington.

“Since the race he’s really conditioned up, he’s tightened up and looks better and feels better, so I’m happy with him,” Yoshioka said.

“He came all the way from Japan to race in this Melbourne Cup, he’s here to win, so we hope he will.”

Gold Trip drew inside Vauban in barrier two, but trainer Ciaron Maher said he would have preferred to swap his barrier with Future History’s, who will jump from gate 13 under Hollie Doyle.

“We were hoping for around the middle somewhere just because he likes to get out a bit, but you never pass up a good gate for the horse as well. What will be will be,” Maher said of Gold Trip.

Maher, who has five runners in the race, said Right You Are’s barrier 15 was a perfect gate with John Allen likely to race midfield with cover while Ashrun drew barrier 11 after qualifying when he ran second in the Geelong Cup.

“He definitely runs a strong two mile. He has got a light weight and has had a brilliant prep. He is a bit of a sneaky [chance],” Maher said of Ashrun.

Interpretation is the stable’s other representative, to jump from barrier 17.

As for Team Williams, they’re searching for their first win since 2020 when Twilight Payment led from start to finish under Jye McNeil.

McNeil rides Serpentine, while Mick Dee rides Cleveland for the camp, fresh off his win in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup.

Serpentine failed in last year’s Cup off the short three-day back-up, but Williams said his third in the Bart Cummings was terrific.

“The form I think going through the Newcastle Cup, Metrop and St Leger, the two bits of form I like locally are it and the Bart Cummings,” Williams said.

“Both our horses are going well, whether they’ve got the class to win, I don’t know, but we’ll know that on Tuesday.”

Asked whether the family could win an eighth Cup, Williams said: “We’ve got two runners that are in the final field, so we’ve got a chance. They’re not easy to win.”

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