France-based Italian Alessandro Botti will attempt to succeed where his cousin Marco could not with Presage Nocturne in Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup.
Marco Botti trained Jakkalberry, who finished third in the 2012 Melbourne Cup, and Dandino, who finished fifth in 2013.
Botti said his cousin endorsed Presage Nocturne as a Melbourne Cup contender in pre-travel conversations.
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“Marco said to me that he has a good profile for this race.
“For this race, the French horses are a good chance every time.”
Botti will be out to become the third France-based trainer to win the Melbourne Cup.
Alain de Royer Dupre won with Americain in 2010 while Mikel Delzangles’ Dunaden claimed the 2011 Melbourne Cup over popular British galloper Red Cadeaux in one of the closest finishes in the history of the great race.
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Both Americain and Dunaden competed in the Group 2 Prix Kergorlay (3000m) before heading to Australia.
Presage Nocturne ran third in this year’s edition of the Deauville feature in August.
American and Dunaden both won the Geelong Cup before their respective Melbourne Cup victories but Botti set Presage Nocturne a different lead-up assignment to Tuesday’s $10m contest, running the grey in the Caulfield Cup.
Presage Nocturne caught the eye when running on late to finish fourth to Half Yours.
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Botti said the Caulfield Cup panned out perfectly for Presage Nocturne, whom the trainer said did not have an overly taxing run at his Australian debut.
“I asked the French jockey (Stephane Pasquier) to respect the horse because we have a good race coming up in 18 days,” Botti said.
“If he could have won the last race, we would have been very happy but he finished very well and the jockey respected the horse and was not too hard.
“I think his condition now is better than the last time.”
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Presage Nocturne will face a vastly different set of circumstances in the Melbourne Cup.
The son of the recently deceased boom stallion Wootton Bassett will head to the bigger Flemington track, which Botti said would be more akin to French courses.
“The horse has never run on the little racetrack (such as Caulfield) in particular,” Botti said.
“He has run at Longchamp and Saint Cloud where it is a little different and he won at Saint Cloud, which is similar to the track of the Melbourne Cup.”
The six-year-old could also race on much softer ground in the Melbourne Cup.
But the Chantilly-based Botti said he did not want the Flemington track to deteriorate too much with forecast falls of up to 40mm on Monday.
“He has won in the good ground and he has won in the soft ground,” Botti said.
“I hope that tomorrow is not catastrophic with the weather but the soft ground will be no problem.”
Winning the Melbourne Cup would not only thrust Botti into the international racing spotlight, it would also mark an important milestone for any trainer.
“I have never won a Group 1, I have finished second four times, so it would be a dream,” Botti said.
Presage Nocturne firmed from $9 to $8.50 in Melbourne Cup betting after drawing well in barrier nine.
