Oh, the Gaul of it!

By Garry Howe
FROM a restricted Pakenham staying race to a Melbourne Cup start eight days later.
Call it extreme optimism or the blind faith of a “silly owner”, but that’s the plan Arthur Kelsey laid out for his seven-year-old Cranbourne-trained gelding Gothic Crown after it won the Century 21 Pakenham 0-62 Handicap on Monday.
Kelsey took the calculated gamble of paying up the $3500 required for the third declaration phase and Gothic Crown did his bit by winning the race in emphatic style by two-and-a-half lengths.
“There are only 47 horses left in the running for a Melbourne Cup start and we are one of them,” Kelsey said.
He realises Gothic Crown has a task ahead to gain a Cup start – ranked 47th and with some of the biggest names in racing ahead of him in the queue – but says it has been his dream to have a runner in Australia’s most famous race and thought it was worth taking the punt.
Gothic Crown, prepared by former jumps jockey Todd Balfour, must first gain a start in the Group 3 Lexus Stakes (formerly Saab Quality) at Flemington on Saturday and then win that race to guarantee him a spot in the field. The Lexus winner is exempt from the Cup ballot.
That would be no mean feat, given the quality of horseflesh on the same cluttered path includes Bart Cummings’ Cathay Pacific (Moonee Valley) Cup winner Precedence, Lloyd Williams-owned pair Mourayan and Linton, Godolphin imports Holberg and Eastern Aria, the Gai Waterhouse trained Herculian Prince, 2008 runner-up Bauer and last year’s Melbourne Cup favourite Alcopop.
Meanwhile, Cranbourne trainer Mark Webb and jockey Craig Williams were delighted with their Cox Plate runner Avienus at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
The five-year-old mare, sent out as the rank outsider in a 10-horse field, finished strongly into sixth place behind Bart Cummings-trained superstar So You Think.
Fellow Cranbourne trainer Mick Kent’s Absolutely finished four-lengths second in the Listed Arrow Training Services Stakes at the Valley on Saturday, while the Robbie Griffiths-trained Manor Lady was third in the 1000m first race.
Greg Eurell’s Red Colossus has been accepted for the Group One Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington this Saturday.