Last year’s Melbourne Cup winning trainer Danny O’Brien is set to press onto the first Tuesday of November again with his Oaks winner from last season Miami Bound back to her best taking out the 2020 Moonee Valley Gold Cup.

Miami Bound heads into the 2020 Melbourne Cup on the back of an impressive Moonee Valley Gold Cup victory on Cox Plate Day. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

O’Brien looks almost certain now to back his Reliable Man mare up in the iconic Group 1 $8 million Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 3 after she returned to form on Cox Plate Day taking out the Group 2 $500,000 Moonee Valley Gold Cup (2500m) in style.

The four-year-old went around at a huge price of around 25/1 not having won since her Group 1 VRC Oaks (2500m) success last Melbourne Cup Carnival.

O’Brien said the team had been happy with her all preparation however with Miami Bound just needing to get back up to her preferred distance on a Soft track.

“We’ve been very happy with her to be fair all spring but she’s a much better horse when she gets out in distance a mile and a half at least and obviously she grows a leg on the soft,” he said.

“So, there’s a few things that worked in our favour today but look it’s a big thrill to see her win again.

“She gave us a great thrill last spring in the Oaks and it was still a big effort to come back here and beat all the boys in the Moonee Valley Cup.

“She has been running on firm track on unsuitable distances but on the Soft 7 today she just grew a leg and she was never going to get beaten.”

Flying jockey Jamie Kah made it a Cox Plate Day treble with her brilliant ride in the Moonee Valley Cup giving Miami Bound the breathing room out the back that the mare needed to power home late for the win.

“God that was a good win,” Kah said post-race.

“She really didn’t like being on the rail last start (in the Herbert Power Stakes).

“Today she got a beautiful run down the back straight and that was a really tough win.

“I just never really wanted to go inside horses then, I was happy to bide my time and come out wide on her.

“She is flying she is going super and so’s the team.”

Trap For Fools led the field around, while Miami Bound was at the tail end with 650m to go.

Having gone out wide early in the run to sit up on the speed, the Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr. trained Oceanex got to the lead at the 400m with race favourite Shared Ambition coming on from the back to challenge.

In the final furlong however it was all about Miami Bound who moved up, ran on and surged clear over the last 100m to defeated Shared Ambition from the Waller stable by over two lengths with Oceanex holding for third.

It was a mares-dominated Moonee Valley Gold Cup result with three of the first four over the line being female gallopers as the Sydney Cup winner Etah James finished just outside the trifecta.

Miami Bound returned to form at exactly the right time and has subsequently firmed in the all-in Melbourne Cup 2020 odds at Ladbrokes.com.au from $201 to $51 to hand O’Brien back-to-back victories in the ‘race that stops a nation’.

“I would think she would definitely be an acceptor now. She’s won that impressively and when you’re that close it’s pretty hard to not run,” he said.

“It’s still been difficult for those fillies that have won an Oaks to come back and win Melbourne Cups…but I would say we’d be there on the first Tuesday of November and giving it a crack.”

Kingston Rule the last horse to complete the MV Gold Cup-Melbourne Cup double in the same year (1990) giving Miami Bound a notable hoodoo to overcome in her grand final next month.

Click here for the latest pre-field Melbourne Cup 2020 odds courtesy of Ladbrokes.com.au.

2020 Moonee Valley Gold Cup Results

Table Credit: Racing Australia.