Degraves (outside) winning at Flemington (Image: Racing Photos)
Owner Lloyd Williams will have three runners at The Valley on Saturday, with leading Melbourne Cup contender Dawn Patrol due to make his Australian debut.
Williams says Dawn Patrol is an intended acceptor for the $500,000 Group 2 Feehan Stakes (1600m), with the winner to be granted ballot exemption for the $5 million Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) on October 23.
Jye McNeil, who gave Williams his seventh Melbourne Cup success when he guided Twilight Payment to victory last year, has been booked to ride Dawn Patrol in the Feehan.
"He'll go alright, he's pleased us since arriving here at Macedon Lodge exactly three weeks ago," Williams said.
Dawn Patrol is a recent addition to Williams' team after the son of Galileo was purchased from Coolmore out of the yard of Aidan O'Brien at the end of his three-year-old season late last year.
The half-brother of 2011 Derby winner Pour Moi was runner-up in the €100,000 (A$157,000) G3 ARM Holding International Stakes (2012m) at the Curragh on June 26 when making his debut in navy and white, while also having his first start as a gelding for Joseph O'Brien.
The International Stakes has been won by the likes of Johannes Vermeer (2017), Yucatan (2018) and Buckhurst (2019) in recent years.
Dawn Patrol, who is a Stakes winner over two miles having claimed the G3 Loughbrown Stakes at the Curragh last September, is a $17 chance with Sportsbet to win this year's Melbourne Cup, with Incentivise and Spanish Mission at the top of betting at $13.
WATCH: 2021 International Stakes
McNeil is also booked to ride Cormorant in the $130,000 open handicap (1600m). Cormorant has firmed noticeably for this year's Melbourne Cup, from $251 to $21 before drifting to $26 with Sportsbet.
A Sportsbet spokesperson told Racing.com this month that Cormorant's Melbourne Cup odds tumbled on August 8 when there was a 'good volume of bets at small stakes'. The most significant wager taken by Sportsbet for Cormorant was a $250 bet at 250/1.
Those who have snapped up the triple-figure odds may not have the pay day they're after though, with Williams suggesting Cormorant would be unlikely to run in the race.
"He looks well but I don't think he will be going to the Melbourne Cup, the Caulfield Cup possibly," Williams said.
Cormorant, like Dawn Patrol, was purchased from Coolmore at the end of last year and raced once for Joseph O'Brien, fading after leading to finish fourth of five runners as $2.60 favourite in a 1902-metre handicap at Gowran Park as equal topweight with 61.5kg on June 13.
Meanwhile, Degraves will attempt to atone for his unplaced last-start Valley effort in an $130,000 open handicap (2040m).
The Northern Hemisphere four-year-old Camelot gelding won stylishly, although he was also wayward late, over the mile at Flemington on June 19 but blotted his record when he finished sixth, beaten 1.65 lengths by Viral at The Valley on August 21.
"He found the track a bit hard at the end of the day," Williams said. "He knew he had the run for the next day or two but he's fine now."
Sectionals illustrate how Degraves stopped dramatically after hitting the lead with 200m remaining. He ran the 600 to 200m in a blistering 22.92 seconds, the second quickest of the race, but didn’t stretch out over final 200m when clocking 12.41s, a time only quicker than Biometric and Sovereign Award, who filled the last two placings.
There should be no concerns over the firmness of The Valley circuit this weekend, with 20 to 40mm of rainfall predicted for Melbourne on Friday and Saturday. Williams also believes the rise in distance should suit Degraves.
"He was fourth to Armory at his last run over the distance," Williams said.
Williams has enlisted the services of 3kg-claiming apprentice Alana Kelly for Degraves, who has been handicapped on the limit weight of 54kg.
Kelly rode an excellent race aboard King Magnus, who finished runner-up to Ayrton in last Saturday's final race at Caulfield, using 2.5kg of her allowance aboard the in-form six-year-old gelding at 51.5kg.
WATCH: Degraves latest start at The Valley