Five years is a long time to hang onto Melbourne Cup regret, but New Zealand trainer Allan Sharrock thinks he might get the chance this spring to bury the past.
Earlier this week Sharrock was busily crunching the Melbourne Cup numbers with his last-start Gr.1 Livamol Classic winner Ladies Man (NZ) (Zed) precariously poised at 34th in order just two weeks out from the race.
The math suggested the horse can score a Cup run, with the six-year-old landing in Melbourne on Wednesday and if Ladies Man is as good a stayer as he thinks, he might be able to erase the bitter pill of 2018 when Sharrock admits to making an administration blunder.
“The same people that own this horse had the half-sister Ladies First (NZ) (Dylan Thomas), who won the Auckland Cup and I forgot to accept (for the Melbourne Cup) and it rained on the day and I felt very sick,” Sharrock said.
“It’s different over here as once you nominated, unless you withdraw, you’re in right the way through to the big day, but over there you have to keep accepting.
“In the horse are my longtime owners the Stanleys, they have raced a host of Group horses with me and the O’Learys, who had Who Shot Thebarman (NZ) (Yamanin Vital), who ran in three or four Melbourne Cups.”
Ladies First had won six of her 10 races on a Heavy track and while it wasn’t quite Heavy when Cross Counter won in 2018 (Soft 7 upgraded to Soft 6), Sharrock figures she would have been well suited in the conditions.
Instead, Ladies First ran fifth in the Hotham Handicap (2500m) on the Saturday on a Good 3 track and was standing in her box on Tuesday as the rain came down.
Sharrock said Ladies First’s history gave him a good indication of Ladies Man’s chances in this year’s Melbourne Cup.
“I think he’s better,” he said. “He’s got more of a turn of foot. She was an off-track mare to show her best, but he doesn’t need a wet track. He’s a clean-actioned horse and a good track doesn’t worry me.
“He’s a hardy, tough horse but he can over-race a tad so that run will take a bit of a tug off him for Tuesday, so I don’t see a problem with it. Bart (Cummings) used it quite often with a bit of success.
“He should have won the Auckland Cup and conditions and an inside run didn’t help him in the Wellington Cup, so even though he hasn’t won over the two miles, the trip is not a concern at all.”
Ladies Man is on the minimum weight of 50kg in the Melbourne Cup and leapt to 34th on the ballot order following his win in the Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m) at Hastings.
