Melbourne Cup: Kieren Fallon has had almost three weeks to acclimatise to Australia but the controversial Irish jockey will still be venturing into unknown territory during the early hours of tomorrow morning when Yeats flies the Irish flag in the $5 million Emirates Melbourne Cup.
The race that stops a nation will have a field of 24 and Yeats has already secured one little victory already having secured a plum draw in box four.
"The experts say four to 12 is best," Fallon told local reporters after the draw was made and he played down the late impact of Saturday's impressive Victoria Derby winner Efficient who will bid to become the first three-year-old Cup winner in 65 years.
"He gets in with a light weight but it is going to be hard taking on the old warriors."
Fallon's reliance on "the experts" reflects how much of a shot in the dark this attempt on the Cup is for him and Yeats's trainer Aidan O'Brien.
The latter has never had a runner in Australia before and the gap between the jockey's first win in the country as an apprentice, and the second, the weekend before last, is 20 years.
A 10-day ban picked up at Moonee Valley has also meant no racing experience at Flemington but Fallon has plenty plenty of confidence in his horse despite Yeats having to carry topweight.
With O'Brien staying at home, Fallon and the Ballydoyle assistant Andrew Murphy have been supervising the preparation at Sandown Park and Yeats has been working well. "He is fine and he is fit. We're expecting a big run," said Murphy.
Yeats is disputing favouritism with the Caulfield Cup winner Tawqeet who carries the Sheikh Hamdan colours carried to Breeders' Cup glory by Invasor on Saturday night.
But a late threat to their position came at the weekend when Efficient ran away with the Victoria Derby and a rare double attempt, as well as a try at seven wins in a row, will begin from box eight.
"I think Efficient is an outstanding three-year-old so anyone who under-estimates his chance is a fool. If he backs up he will be hard to beat," admitted Tawqeet's trainer David Hayes. However, the man who knows more than most about what is needed to win the Cup is Dermot Weld who broke the mould with Vintage Crop (1993) and followed up with Media Puzzle (2002.) Significantly, he feels a third Irish win is not beyond the bounds of possibility.
"The weight will not be an issue for Yeats. He is a big strong horse and he has got a nice draw. There's no doubt he is the class horse in it and he should be able travel well during the race," Weld said yesterday. "The one problem he could have is with the ground. I don't think Yeats will like it really fast, and it can get like that at Flemington," he added.
Despite some light showers being forecast for the Melbourne area over the next 48 hours, the going at Felmington, which was officially "dead" at the weekend, is expected to dry out significantly.
