One of four OTI Racing chances confirmed for this afternoon’s feature at Flemington, Melbourne Cup betting suggests Gatewood offers Terry Henderson and Simon O’Donnell their best chance of success in the Race That Stops a Nation.
Gatewood offers OTI Racing arguably their best chance of a positive 2014 Melbourne Cup result. Photo: Race Horse Photos Australia
Securing a total of eight wins and ten minor places from just 25 competitive starts so far, Gatewood travelled to Australian in 2012 with a view towards running in the Melbourne Cup, and while taking out the Geelong Cup (2400m) in just his second appearance, was unable to make the final field.
Yet to finish worse than second in six competitive appearances on course this year, trainer John Gosden said he would have liked a little rain around the Flemington track in the days leading up to the country’s headline race, but is confident Gatewood is in peak condition and offers OTI Racing a strong chance for a positive Melbourne Cup result.
“When the weights come out, we saw he was very close to getting in [the field], so we thought let’s have a go,” Gosden told The Age.
We ended up getting in easy but probably with a bit too much weight.
We are very happy with him. We would probably like a bit of rain but we are not going to get that.”
Remaining in Australia under the care of Chris Waller following his ill-fated 2012 Melbourne Cup campaign, Gatewood displayed a definite disdain for the Australian racing conditions and failed to make an impact over four starts through the 2013 Autumn Carnival.
Returning to Britain and the care of Gosden in late 2013, the Galileo entire ran second in the Conditions Stakes (2414m) first-up this year before claiming back-to-back victories in the Listed Buckhounds Stakes (2414m) and Listed Tapster Stakes (2414m).
Overcoming poor running position to finish second in the Listed Fred Archer Stakes (2414m) on June 28th, Gatewood returned to the winner’s circle in the Group 3 Prix De Reux (2500m) on August 10th before running a close second in the Group 2 Grand Prix De Deauville Lucien Barriere (2500m) last time out.
Allocated the wide and somewhat awkward barrier 20, Gatewood is currently available at generous odds of $67 for success in Melbourne Cup betting markets at Ladbrokes Australia.
