Trainer Michael Moroney looks in with a chance to win his second Melbourne Cup following a good victory over a vintage field by Emissary in Wednesday’s Geelong Cup 2022.

The 2022 Melbourne Cup is calling for Emissary following his strong upset victory in the Geelong Cup on Wednesday. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

This year’s Group 3 $500,000 Geelong Cup (2400m) drew one of the stronger line-ups in recent years, and Moroney’s import Emissary was very good coming from second last to win by three-quarters of a length.

The Kingman six-year-old, only lightly raced having just his 16^th start in the mile and a half classic, went into the event an outsider in betting on the back of his eight in the Group 2 Herbert Power Stakes (2400m) last time out at Caulfield.

He atoned for that performance and was back to his best running an ideal trial for the Group 1 $7.75 million Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on the first Tuesday of November.

“It was a really good win. We were disappointed with his last run, but put it down to the ground mainly,” Moroney told Racing.com after the win.

“Really we were starting to wonder whether he really stays but on that today he certainly does.

“He’s a lovely horse and from last spring on we really thought we had ourselves a really good stayer and hopefully he’s going to go on with it.

“A fork in the road with him today. We wanted him on top of the ground over the mile and a half so we could work out what we were going to do

“We’d love to press onto a Melbourne Cup now all going well.”

Given a perfectly-timed ride by the internationally performed Blake Shinn, Emissary ($18) settled second last in the run as Midnight Blue led the Geelong Cup field around.

Once on the home straight, Shinn came out wide with his run on the eventual winner, and Emissary charged past his rivals going on to defeat the brave Chris Waller-trained favourite Surefire ($4.60F).

In a photo for third the Ben & JD Hayes-trained Herbert Power runner-up Makram ($11) from the outside alley was just able to hold out the visiting British raider Rodrigo Diaz ($16) who caught the eye in his Australian race debut.

Before the Geelong Cup results Emissary sat 30^th on the Melbourne Cup order of entry with 51kg.

Moroney, who won the world’s richest handicap race 22 years ago with 49kg lightweight Brew (2000m), is confident Emissary’s performance was enough to earn him a decent penalty and work his way into the top 24 on the Melbourne Cup ballot.

“He come from second last in a really good field,” Moroney said.

“It’s probably one of the better Geelong Cup fields we’ve seen in a long, long time and I think for that reason the handicapper will recognise that and that’s what they normally go on.

“Just the way he did it, he come from second last and sort of took all the bad luck out of the equation and got a clear go at them.”

Moroney was also quick to credit the ride by Shinn in the Geelong Cup.

“He’s very much in form,” he said of the jockey who won the 2008 Melbourne Cup aboard Viewed for the Cups’ King Bart Cummings.

“He’s an international jockey. He’s well-travelled and certainly a world class rider.”

Media Puzzle (2002), Americain (2010) and Dunaden (2011) are the latest horses to complete the Geelong Cup – Melbourne Cup double.

“He (Emissary) does remind me a bit of Brew, but that’s 22 years ago now, time flies when you’re having fun, but it certainly would be great to be able to win a race like that again. They’re great races. It’d be nice,” Moroney said.

Futures Melbourne Cup odds at Ladbrokes.com.au have Emissary at $21 to be the next with all-in markets led by the European raider Deauville Legend ($6).

Click here for the latest 2022 Melbourne Cup betting odds (pre-field).

2022 Geelong Cup Results & Finishing Order

Table Credit: Racing Australia.