Britton Hoping For Bradbury Cup Moment

Jeff Britton concedes he'll need plenty of luck for Western Envoy and Oakvale Beauty to make their presence felt in Friday night's Melbourne Cup.

Jeff Britton concedes his and partner Angela Langton's Melbourne Cup finalists Oakvale Beauty and Western Envoy were up against it before the box draw for Friday night's Group 1 TAB Melbourne Cup was conducted.

And then things got even tougher.

After winning her heat from box one, South Australian import Oakvale Beauty, prepared by Britton, will move to seven for the $435,000 to-the-winner Cup Final, while Langton's Western Envoy will have to overcome box five for the second week running.

"They were going to be outsiders before the box draw and then the box draw made it even worse!" Britton offered ruefully.

Britton's assessment is reflected in TAB's Melbourne Cup market, with Western Envoy at $26 and Oakvale Destiny a $34 chance.

Oakvale Beauty, a daughter of Oakvale Destiny, which Britton guided to victory in the Group 1 Sapphire Crown at Sandown Park in 2014, won the Group 3 SA Oaks for owner/breeder Nathan Wilson in September, emulating her mother, before relocating to Victoria.

Unbeaten in five starts from box one, Oakvale Beauty started at $5.40 from the rails in last Friday's fourth Cup heat and maintained her perfect record off the inside, defeating Million Dollar Chase winner Good Odds Harada by three lengths in 29.41s.

"Oakvale Beauty is a nice bitch and if she could have drawn the red again she would've been around a 12/1 chance," Britton said.

"She's going well but from what I've seen of her she seems to be a bit one dimensional.

"She needs to be off the inside and if she draws wide she probably hasn't got the pace to be in these big races.

"She probably needs to do a ‘Steven Bradbury'. It did happen in the Topgun when the three slowest beginners ran first, second and third. It can happen but it doesn't happen very often."

Western Envoy started $3.50 favourite in the last of eight heats and overcame a poor start to finish over the top of leader Reiko Boss, scoring by three-quarters of a length in 29.58s, his fifth win from 13 Sandown 515m assignments, while he's won two from two over 595m.

The Melbourne Cup will be Western Envoy's third appearance at Group 1 level, with the litter brother to National Sprint champion Premium Share having also drawn awkwardly when unplaced in the Maturity Classic (box 4) and Vic Peters Classic (box 6).

"He blew the start in his heat but that was the first time he's really missed it since we brought him back from injury in September," Britton explained.

"He's drawn five again but that's probably where he wants to be and as long as he gets out he'd be some sort of place chance.
"Between Angela and I, we haven't had many finalists over the years. Black Illusion (2015) ran third, coming out of box five. Star Recall and Cosmic Wise both made the final (2014) but drew six and five and now this year we've drawn five and seven.

"It's not easy to get in there – it's pretty cut-throat – and last year we were sitting on the sidelines watching. It's a big week, so it's exciting to have a couple of finalists."

While Britton acknowledges his Melbourne Cup finalists face a tough ask, he has a number of excellent chances in the support features, including Mepunga Daniel (TAB Provincial Plate), True Detective (Listed Sky Racing Stayers), Mepunga Maggie (Group 3 Cup Night Sprint) and Steinbrenner (Group 3 Sir John Dillon Memorial).

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