Marmelo on target for Melbourne Cup start

English stayer Marmelo has been cleared to continue a build-up to the Melbourne Cup.

Trainer Hughie Morrison has given Marmelo a clean bill of health after watching the Melbourne Cup hope in a routine piece of work at Werribee.

On a third trip to Melbourne for the Cup, Marmelo had been the subject of veterinary scrutiny earlier in the week after showing signs of soreness.

Morrison, who arrived in Australia on Tuesday, said he could find nothing wrong with Marmelo as the stayer strives to turn around his second placing behind Cross Counter in last year’s Cup.

Scans taken from Marmelo were sent to Ian Wright at UK’s Newmarket Equine Hospital who gave a positive report to Morrison.

“We’ve got a lot of knowledge of this back home,” Morrison said.

“It was important that we sent the analysis back home to Ian Wright who is one of our leading experts.”

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Morrison does not believe the X-rays and scans taken from Marmelo will have any detrimental effect on the stayer leading up to the Cup on Tuesday.

“Interestingly he only lost four kilos flying over here after 40 hours, but he lost six kilos in the scan because they get dehydrated and pee a lot,” Morrison said.

“He looked fantastic this morning. He’s got a very strong constitution and has recovered well.”

Morrison said Marmelo would continue his training as normal and believes the stayer is in the right frame of form.

“He looked great this morning,” Morrison said.

“He worked really well yesterday, moved well, came out of the gallop really well and all roads lead to Tuesday.

“We’ve got the same horse as we had last year and we’re looking forward to the local owners and connections being part of this great race which we’ve enjoyed so much in the last couple of years.”