Oceanographer and Qewy target Melbourne spot in Geelong Cup

Godolphin will be represented by Oceanographer and Qewy in the Group Three Geelong Cup on Wednesday.

The powerful owners already have Cox Plate hopeful Hartnell and Scottish in contention for the Melbourne Cup but Charlie Appleby's pair could also put themselves in contention with a big run in the 12 furlong contest.

Victory is probably essential to earn either runner a starting berth in the Melbourne Cup field as they would be reliant on picking up a suitably large penalty from Racing Victoria Chief Handicapper Greg Carpenter to make the cut.

Oceanographer was last seen finishing in midfield behind leading Melbourne Cup hopeful Heartbreak City in the Ebor and the five-year-old has reportedly settled in well at Werribee.

"Oceanographer has done as well as any in our team since arriving and has continued to thrive," Appleby told www.racing.com.

"He is less exposed than Qewy, but he has great staying potential and is on the upgrade."

Qewy hasn't raced since his second in the Summer Stakes Goodwood in July but Appleby believes if the seven-year-old could reproduce his form during the summer then he would be involved in the finish.

"Qewy is a grand, old campaigner who ran extraordinarily well at Royal Ascot and Goodwood at his last two," he said.

"He should be staying on well. I expect them both to be very competitive."

Local favourite for the Geelong Cup is Grey Lion, trained by Matt Cumani, son of Newmarket trainer Luca.

A former inmate of Andre Fabre's he reportedly worked well last week and his trainer is looking forwards to the run.

"We know he's a very nice horse and we know he's fit, we just don't know how he is before a race compared with how he runs," Cumani told The Daily Telegraph.

"We've talked to some of Andre Fabre's staff, who are here with Vadamos, and they think the horse looks really well.

"There are only 10 runners and to possibly get into the Melbourne Cup is very exciting. Of all the years to have a runner, this seems to be a good one as everyone has been saying that the staying division is a bit weaker."

Sky Bet have a Price Boost available on Grey Lion who, at the time of writing, is 10/3 from 11/4.

They then bet: 7/2 Oceanographer and Kinema; 5/1 Qewy; 7/1 Black Tomahawk; 10s bar.