Three Ballarat gallopers are lining up in the Bendigo Cup on Wednesday aiming to enhance their hopes of gaining a Melbourne Cup run.
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The Ciaron Maher-David Eustace trained Azuro and Lord Belvedere tackle the group 3 event along with Haky from the Archie Alexander stable.
Given their standings in the Melbourne Cup ballot order, Azuro (40th) and Haky (44th) would take a giant stride towards locking in a start if they managed to win and get at least a 1.5kg penalty.
Lord Belvedere faces a much tougher task.
He is yet pass the Melbourne Cup ballot clause. A top three finish in the Bendigo Cup would satisfy this clause, but makiing the 24-horse cut off for Flemington would still be difficult.
Haky and Lord Belvedere share the stop weight of 59kg in the Bendigo Cup, 2400m.
While Lord Belvedere has won won three of past four starts in lesser class, Haky has struggled this preparation - finishing well back in his three starts in listed and group 3 company.