Fiorente deserves to be favourite Racing tips: Max Presnell PT1M8S http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-2wwi7 620 349 November 4, 2013 - 5:17PM Surely the baton of band leader Lloyd Williams will dictate tempo through his sextet for Tuesday's Melbourne Cup. Williams has tuned his horses to perfection and seems to have every base covered, but lack of pace can play a vital role. Fawkner should be suited by an even speed, as Green Moon was last year, but Sea Moon, Seville and Masked Marvel will appreciate a sterner staying test. Mourayan could be the key and take the role of head violinist or concert master - what is termed the pacemaker in Europe. Williams will be hoping for a better finale than Aidan O'Brien's attempted adaptation in 2008. All three of his Cup team pressed forward, headed by Allessandro Volta and Honolulu, setting, on paper if not on turf, an acceptable speed for Septimus. But the Irish jig faded in the straight. All quiet on Cup eve: Foreman Roger Neville cools Fiorente down after a swim at Flemington on Monday. Williams has the vital qualification for the Big One - the knack of conditioning a two-miler emphasised by the wins of Green Moon last year and Efficient in 2007. Perhaps this is the only query about Gai Waterhouse, who is still a maiden in the Big One but has placed. Fiorente, her top hope, has every other vital credential: course, distance, fitness, form and jockey (Damien Oliver). Some say Fiorente did it too hard when third in the Cox Plate last start. Others maintain Waterhouse has overcooked him with too many rehearsals on the track and swimming. But bone and muscle are the vital ingredients of a Tulloch Lodge preparation for which Waterhouse, and previously her father Tom Smith, are renowned. The slight query is the use of a lugging bit, so late for the first time in a campaign, but Oliver told Racenet: "He's a lovely horse, very relaxed and does everything you want him to do." Gamble against the visiting internationals. Sure they can win but will they bring their European best to Melbourne? "Since 1993, when Vintage Crop won for Ireland, there have been 66 international starters in the Cup without a previous Australian run," said Dom Beirne, the Betfair analyst. They have all lost! One day, this streak is bound to be broken, but I'm not prepared to handpick the one that will snap it. Naturally, backing these horses has proved very expensive. The best performed of the cohort in factor five have been Cup runners-up Fiorente and Red Cadeaux, each of which had raced mid-September. Beirne advises playing the overs on his computer ratings: Fiorente ($5.50 with him and $8.2 Betfair), Fawkner ($10-$20), Sea Moon ($11- $16) and Dandino ($12-$13). Sea Moon appeals as the best of the Williams ensemble. European experts rate him highly, and the stayer has had the benefit of acclimatisation in Australia. Hawkspur, on potential, should be considered and Fawkner, a home-bred, is the band leader's favourite. Certainly Dear Demi is the mare that has had an old style lead-up and answered every call. Maybe the Big One has changed or improved so much that the former methods don't work any more. Maybe? VERDICT: Fiorente 1, Sea Moon 2, Hawkspur 3, Fawkner 4