James Ferguson gathered significant intelligence on previous trips from the UK when working with Godolphin that he hopes will lead to success in the Melbourne Cup.
Now training in his own right, Ferguson travelled to the Melbourne Spring Carnival with a number of Charlie Appleby’s team when they won the Geelong, Bendigo and Sandown Cups and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 2016 returning the following year on a smaller scale.
It all led to Appleby landing the Melbourne Cup with Cross Counter in 2018, although Ferguson was not a part of the travelling party that year.
Ferguson is back preparing Deauville Legend, the $4.80 favourite with TAB for the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on Tuesday.
He said it was an invaluable experience travelling with horses of the ilk of Qewy and Francis Of Assisi that have set up his training programs for a tilt at this year’s great race.
“I’m very grateful to Charlie Appleby and it made my life coming down here a lot easier,” Ferguson said.
“I know the Racing Victoria guys and they have looked after us very well, but I also knew the quarantine section very well.
“We are in exactly the same box. We train on the Werribee racetrack and it’s a massive advantage when you send horses across the world, you know where they are.
“Your program is already laid out for you because you know the set up.”
It is a little over two weeks since Deauville Legend arrived in Australia and Ferguson said the gelding had adapted well to the change in training routine.
No longer are there the wide-open spaces of Newmarket, now it’s the tighter confines of Werribee racecourse which is home to all the horses competing during the spring carnival.
“It’s a big change coming over here,” Ferguson said.
“The majority of the time we train uphills, in packs, whereas when you bring them down here you are on a flat track and they are basically training on their own.”
Ferguson has had glowing reports from jockey Kerrin Mcevoy who rode Cross Counter in his Melbourne Cup victory along with Qewy and Francis Of Assisi in their assaults down under.
“Kerrin has come and ridden him twice in his work and both times he’s finished with a massive smile on his face,” Ferguson said.
“He came pretty fit and touch wood we’ve had a pretty smooth run and hopefully we can maintain that through until the race now.
“He is tough, and he is very brave and if he was to get into a fight on Tuesday, I would be very confident that he would come out on top.”
