MELBOURNE CUP:GARY MOORE will be keeping his fingers crossed that Mourilyan comes to no harm in the Melbourne Cup at Flemington tomorrow (live on At The Races from 11pm tonight).

The Sussex trainer had the five-year-old entire in his care until about six weeks ago when the horse was shipped over to Australia for the “race that stops a nation”.

Mourilyan, now looked after by Herman Brown, took a break from his globe-trotting round the world in the summer with good performances at home.

He was beaten a length by Schiaparelli in the Goodwood Cup before going on to land the March Stakes.

“He left me about six weeks ago. They tell me he’s in good form with himself and working very well,” said Moore.

“My biggest concern would be the ground out there. On his run behind Schiaparelli, who nearly beat Ask the other day, you’ve got to think he’s got a serious chance.

“That was probably the first time he had his ground that day. They will go fast because the ground’s fast. I’d hate for him to get injured out there. There’s not many horses come back from there. The only one that’s come back for me was Dermot Weld’s (Vintage crop).

“I don’t know what’s happened to Purple Moon (runner-up in 2008) this year. I’d be pretty nervous about it. He’s a lovely horse.”

Yesterday’s two race meetings in Ireland were cancelled due to waterlogging. Leopardstown was hit with 23mm of rain on Saturday night, while Cork also cancelled following an inspection yesterday morning. In Britain Templemore and Lingstown point-to-points were also cancelled due to waterlogging.