Betting tips / Editor / 14 October 2011 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

In a Betfair exclusive, part-owner Luke Murrell takes us inside the camp of a Caulfield and Melbourne Cup favourite.

Well, it's nearly show time!

After a 12-month extensive search of the globe for the perfect horse to tackle the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups, the countdown is on to race time.

It's been a stressful week for the connections of Lucas Cranach, a horse that our company Australian Bloodstock sourced from Germany earlier this year, and we have had to survive a vet check from Racing Victoria before being given the green light to race in the Caulfield Cup. Thankfully, Lucas passed the inspection with flying colours and after a good gallop on Wednesday he's primed to run a big race for us.

It's still a little bit surreal for me at the moment and just to say that we have one of a few big chances in the Caulfield Cup is a dream come true. We have been a little more prepared this year after having our first ever runner, Illustrious Blue, contest the Melbourne Cup last year, but the nerves are still there this year as Lucas takes to the track.

Having experienced that thrill last year, my business partner Jamie Lovett and I vowed that in 2011 we would have a horse that would not only be competitive in the Cups, but one that we thought could win them.

After looking at literally thousands of races and making numerous late night phone calls to far flung European nations, we settled on two horses in Germany and made a play for both.

One was a filly named Danedream, which had a great record and looked to have plenty of upside. Unfortunately, our offer was rejected, and we had to watch her race on to a stunning win in the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe a couple of weeks ago.

But the same day that our offer for Danedream was rejected, our offer on a four-year-old stallion named Lucas Cranach was accepted. Lucas had chased Danedream home in a group one race in Germany when giving her nine kilo's and a 12-length head start. We thought it was an amazing run and luckily we were able to secure him.

We put together a partnership of owners that resembles the 'who's who' of racing, including Linda and Graeme Huddy, owners of champion Shoot Out, and John O'Neill, who could be considered the luckiest owner in Australian racing with a list of Group one winners as long as your arm!

We enlisted the help of Anthony and Lee Freedman to train the horse, with Lee flying to Newmarket in England to prepare Lucas for export. We cannot thank the Freedman's and their staff, Jo, Will and, of course, Lucas' groom and best mate, Victor, for all their hard work.

If we could win a Caulfield and or Melbourne Cup it literally will change a lot of people's lives, such is the emotion of the build up to Lucas' first race.

One of our very good friends and a part owner of Lucas was given the news that he will be a father for the first time earlier this week, but he is so caught up in the idea of winning a Caulfield or Melbourne Cup that he told me "being a Dad hasn't really registered yet, it's months away but the Cups are just around the corner!"

So, we go to Caulfield tomorrow with a great winning chance in another Group one race. We were at Caulfield a few weeks back to cheer on our horse Master of Design when he ran third in the Rupert Clarke Stakes, and we were there earlier in the year when we watched Cardinal Virtue contest the Oakleigh Plate. We're only a young business but we purposely chase Group one races, so to be able to say we are achieving our goal at this stage is a source of great pride.

We'll cheer on our Group three winner Uate when he resumes from a spell in Sydney earlier in the day, then it's all eyes on Lucas as he races for one of the biggest prizes on the Australian turf.