One can always rely on Manighar to finish top six and nearly assuredly not win the race.

Manighar hasn’t won since October 2009 but since has had 14 starts and has finished in the top six in 12 of them.

Even trainer Luca Cumani is now saying he lacks the killer punch but he continues to work well and is ready for the Saturday’s Group 2 Zipping Classic (2400m) at Sandown.

Supervised by travelling foreman Charlie Henson, the grey galloped over 1400m at Werribee today.

“All’s good. We didn’t need to do a hard piece of work, the Cup was only a week ago,” Henson said.

Last year the Linamix gelding had run fifth in the Caulfield Cup and seventh in the Melbourne Cup before running third to Zipping in the $350,000 race which was known as the Sandown Classic.

This year he ran fourth in the Caulfield Cup and fifth in the Melbourne Cup.

Manighar briefly hit the front in the straight at Flemington but couldn’t sprint when it mattered but Henson is happy.

“The Cup run was probably a career-best really,” Henson said.

“The blinkers probably improved him but the race didn’t quite pan out as we expected it to.

“But he ran a very good race and he was one of the only ones up there up on the pace that managed to stay there.”

With Damien Oliver under suspension, Dwayne Dunn takes the ride on Manighar.

Henson named Americain and Mourayan as the hardest to beat.

Americain, who will be sent out a short-priced favourite in the Classic after his huge run for fourth in the Melbourne Cup under topweight of 58kg, had a walk, trot and canter at Werribee in readiness for the 2400m feature.

Americain will again be ridden by Gerald Mosse.

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