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Gai Waterhouse and Lloyd Williams are both Australian racing hall of famers, but Waterhouse says it\u2019s clear who calls the shots when it comes to their Melbourne Cup contender Serpentine.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s easy [to train Serpentine] because Lloyd tells you what to do,\u201d Waterhouse quipped.<\/p>\n
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Lloyd Williams, after Almandin won the Cup in 2016<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t have to worry because I get these detailed texts. I don\u2019t have to think, I just act off the texts.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s constantly sourcing and looking at information, and ringing people overseas, talking to trainers and jockeys who have ridden these horses. He\u2019ll send you texts about different things.\u201d<\/p>\n Waterhouse says she\u2019s proposed a few ideas of her own, but the seven-time Melbourne Cup-winning owner rules the roost.<\/p>\n \u201cShould I do this, Lloyd? I think the horse should run there. \u2018Absolutely not, this is the way to go\u2019,\u201d Waterhouse said, when asked what her conversations with Williams are like.<\/p>\n \u201cI say, \u2018well, you\u2019ve won six or eight of them, and I\u2019ve only won one, so I\u2019m going to stick with you, Lloyd\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cBut he\u2019s fantastic, and it\u2019s just a joy. He\u2019s been in my life [a long time], a great friend of my father\u2019s, and of course, they had Just A Dash win the Cup back many years ago. He hadn\u2019t had a horse for me for about 20 years, and last year he gave me two or three horses to train, and it\u2019s just joyous. He\u2019s wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams\u2019 stranglehold on the Cup as its most successful owner will get tighter if Serpentine is able to win on Tuesday. He will also Cleveland, trained by Kris Lees and ridden by Mick Dee, running.<\/p>\n An Epsom Derby winner in 2020, Serpentine \u2013 a son of Galileo \u2013 joined Waterhouse and co-trainer Adrian Bott after finishing 20th in last year\u2019s Melbourne Cup.<\/p>\n Lloyd Williams with Gai Waterhouse, back in 2011. They\u2019ve reunited to enter Serpentine in this year\u2019s Cup. <\/span>Credit: <\/span>Vince Caligiuri <\/cite><\/p>\n But Waterhouse said the seven-year-old gelding was building in form, after finishing third in the Bart Cummings at his most recent start.<\/p>\n \u201cHe came last year and ran in the Cup, ingloriously, but I think we\u2019ve resurrected him, Adrian and I, and I\u2019m quietly confident,\u201d Waterhouse said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s down in the weights. The jockey, Jye McNeil, has already won the Cup for the group \u2013 Lloyd and Nick \u2013 and he\u2019ll give it a shake. He\u2019ll really give it a shake.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s an English Derby winner, and he won it by 10 lengths \u2013 they don\u2019t win them by 10 lengths, so he\u2019s a pretty special horse.\u201d<\/p>\n But Waterhouse said she had an \u201cunsung hero\u201d, who might be able to upstage its stablemate on the first Tuesday of November. That horse is Military Mission, who won the Herbert Power last month, after finishing fourth in the group 1 Metropolitan.<\/p>\n \u201cHis run in the Metropolitan was phenomenal, coming from second-last, then he came out the other day and ran terrific,\u201d Waterhouse said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s certainly the most exciting lightly raced horse [in the Cup]. You know when you see horses coming right; you just know when they\u2019re coming right. Anyone sitting here today, if he\u2019s in the Cup, you should definitely have something on him because he\u2019s going great.\u201d<\/p>\n Sydney hoop Rachel King will take the ride on Military Mission.<\/p>\n Military Mission will run in the Melbourne Cup for Gai Waterhouse and co-trainer Adrian Bott.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Bradley Photographers<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201c[She\u2019s] a natural lightweight rider, doesn\u2019t have to waste or anything,\u201d Waterhouse said.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of these other jockeys will be wasting to ride at the weights in the Cup, she does it with her eyes shut, and he\u2019s already won for her.<\/p>\n \u201cShe knows him, and I\u2019ve just got a gut feeling he\u2019ll be fighting the finish out, I really do. It\u2019s just what he\u2019s needing. He\u2019s thriving. His coat, his tail, his whole demeanour is spot on. \u201d<\/p>\n Waterhouse\u2019s sole Melbourne Cup win was a decade ago, when Damien Oliver rode Fiorente to glory.<\/p>\n \u201cI never forget going to the races that day,\u201d Waterhouse said.<\/p>\n \u201cI said, \u2018Oh, I don\u2019t think I can go, I\u2019m so worried, I don\u2019t want to let everyone down. Everyone\u2019s saying you\u2019re gunna win it, I just don\u2019t want to go there and let them down\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd [my husband] Rob said, \u2018for heaven\u2019s sake, go out the door, you\u2019re gunna win it, don\u2019t worry about it\u2019. He was very confident.<\/p>\n \u201cBut he [Fiorente] was just marvellous. He was a beautiful horse that took us on a ride that culminated here on Cup day.\u201d<\/p>\n News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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