There would be plenty of candidates for the title of unluckiest horse in training, but one with very strong claims is French import Vengeur Masque.
Not so much for the manner of his defeats in races – although he has gone down in a couple of driving finishes – but for the way he has missed out on a chance to win the biggest prize of all, the Melbourne Cup.
Is this the year Vengeur Masque secures a star in the Melbourne Cup?Credit:AAP
Twice in a row Vengeur Masque has been the horse left standing when the music stopped and all 24 chairs were occupied.
For the past two years the now seven-year-old gelding, from the Mike Moroney yard at Flemington, has been the 25th horse in the order of entry when the final field is settled on the Saturday night of Derby Day – missing a run on on both occasions.
Moroney has been both philosophical and frustrated at the turn of events, exasperated by the fact that a horse who has spent two years in this country running consistently in competitive staying races cannot get a place in the greatest race of all when his form and fitness suggest he could make an impact.
This time round Moroney is cautiously optimistic that his galloper, who has 54 kilograms in the handicap – 5.5 less than weight-for-age – will make it to the barriers on the first Tuesday in November.
But just to ensure that he does give him the best possible chance, Vengeur Masque, by the German sire who is a great influence for stamina, Monsun, is turning out in the 2500-metre Bart Cummings at Flemington on Saturday.
The field resembles a mini-Melbourne Cup – or perhaps more accurately what the Cup field might look like if there were no internationally trained runners in the race – but the reward is great, with the winner guaranteed a place in the Cup field.
''We are pretty optimistic that he will get into the Cup this year, but we might not make the Caulfield Cup and I would like to run him in both ideally,'' says Moroney, who won the Melbourne Cup with Brew in 2000.
''We have been very unlucky in previous years and it has been annoying. Not so much the first year [2016, Almandin's Cup] as I didn't really think it was his year, but last year was frustrating.
Confident: Trainer Michael Moroney.Credit:AAP
''He was in great form and I think he would have been right in the finish had he got into the race.''
We will never know how he might have fared against the Irish trio of Rekindling, Johannes Vermeer and Max Dynamite, but on all the evidence from the spring of 2017 it's hard to argue with Moroney's view.
His galloper had, in his previous two starts, won the Geelong Cup (2400 metres, group 3, carrying 54 kilograms) and finished a head behind Gai Waterhouse's Cismontane in the group 3 Lexus on Derby Day, one of the other races that guarantees the winner a Cup start.
To prove his wellbeing Moroney saddled the gelding up just four days after the Cup in a bid for a consolation prize, and Vengeur Masque once again showed his appreciation for distance and the Flemington track by taking out the group 3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes over 2600 metres.
''We think he would definitely have been competitive. He's going well now, and once he gets out beyond a mile and a half he comes into his own. If he wins here he guarantees a spot. We would also like to go to the Caulfield Cup, but if he doesn't get in there there are other options.''
Moroney also has another hand in the Cups this year in the shape of German import Sound Check, who is currently in quarantine in Werribee.
''He seems to have settled in pretty well. He's a horse that we bought off the same guy that brought Araldo," he said, Araldo being the Moroney-trained import who finished seventh in Protectionist's Melbourne Cup before suffering a fatal injury being led back to the paddock after being spooked by a giant flag that was being waved by spectators.
''They are bred to stay in Germany and he gives them time to mature. He has won over two miles and he has a good record with seven wins from 16 starts.
''He ran very well last time out when just beaten by Saeed bin Suroor's horse Best Solution in a German group 1, so he should have a good chance.''
Moroney's regular rider Patrick Moloney will be aboard Vengeur Masque, as he has been in 15 of the horse's 18 Australian starts.
No jockey has yet been booked for Sound Check, but Moroney is hoping expatriate Kiwi champion James McDonald will trial him with a view to taking the mount.
Godolphin's French import Avilius is a hot favourite for the Bart Cummings as he too seeks to guarantee a Cup start, while Darren Weir and Team Williams both have three contenders and Gai Waterhouse two.
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