Guard up for Cup Changingoftheguard will run in the Emirates Melbourne Cup next week despite a late setback. Formerly with Aidan O'Brien, the three-year-old suffered a foot abscess earlier in the week but has made a swift recovery. He is also entered in Saturday's Mackinnon Stakes but is almost certain to be balloted out of that contest leaving trainer David Haynes to confirm the Flemington showpiece is now his only target. ''I had a meeting with the owners and we had been leaning towards the Melbourne Cup anyway and it sounds as if that's the only option left,'' Hayes told The Age. ''I think he's a weight-for-age horse with a handicapper's weight (50.5 kilograms) and so we had been leaning towards the Melbourne Cup anyway. ''He's coming along very strongly and he's really impressed me the way he's progressed." Changingoftheguard finished second in the totesport Ebor at York before disappointing in sixth behind Mastery in the Ladbrokes St Leger on his final start in Europe.
