Mike Maroney’s German import Sound is back for another crack at the world’s richest handicap on Tuesday.

The seven-year-old warhorse ran 18^th in the field of 24 Melbourne Cup Horses last year but has since stayed put in Australia with the stable choosing to take a second stab at the Spring Carnival.

Sound has failed to run a place this prep finishing second-last in the Makybe Dive Stakes, seventh in the Turnbull and 10^th in last month’s Caulfield Cup. The barrier gods were kind to the stallion on Saturday as Sound drew gate 10, but that wasn’t enough to sway bookmakers from installing the veteran as a long-shot roughie.

Since 1945, the only horse to win the Melbourne Cup at triple-digit odds was Prince Of Penzance in 2015. It will take a similar effort from Sound at $101 odds but that hasn’t stopped Maroney from finding faith in his only Cup chance.

Sound finished 10th in this year’s Caulfield Cup behind overall winner Mer De Glace. Photo Credit: Ultimate Racing Photos.

“Everything has gone to plan. Just know the horse and what we did in the Autumn, we sort of worked out and prepared how to get him into the Melbourne Cup” Maroney said.

The path to Tuesday’s $7 million race wasn’t easy as Sound stood a serious chance of missing out as a final acceptor. From here, the form doesn’t stack up for anything more than a place, but Maroney still thinks his horse is a chance after showing promise at Caulfield last time out.

“It came close a couple of times and we thought we weren’t going to make the field, so we took a risk.

As it turned out we got away with it, we’ve made every field we’ve wanted to. The two races we’ve been competitive, the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup, just the way we planned it. His run in the Caulfield Cup was good, we just didn’t get a lot of luck. He’s done a lot of work and we’re really happy with where he’s at going into the Melbourne Cup” Maroney said.

Sound copped a beating in the Caulfield Cup as jockey James Winks found himself caught deep three-wide from the gates. Winks chose to move up on the speed at the final turn but found himself trapped between Vow And Declare and Red Verdon down the straight.

“Had a chiro look at him straight away and a physio, he had a little bit of muscle soreness but he’s over that now. Everything has gone according to plan” Maroney said of Sound’s condition following the Cup.

Last year Sound looked a step behind the other internationals that ventured Down Under. Maroney finished by saying travel issues played a large part in the horse’s demeanour, but by nature, Sound is one cool customer.

“When you deal with him he’s more like a gelding than a stallion. Probably a lot like he was last year. He had a hard trip from Germany through his quarantine in England, and then they were on that plane for about two days with a broken windscreen. That did knock him around for a while and I think that’s why he raced so poorly in the Cup’s last year” went on to say.

Complete 2019 Melbourne Cup odds can be viewed by clicking here thanks to Ladbrokes.com.au.