Positive Vibes From Moon Camp

Purple Moon is set to face a maximum field of 17 rivals in Saturday's Caulfield Cup in Australia.

Luca Cumani's four-year-old is due to be ridden by Kerrin McEvoy in his prep run for the Emirates Melbourne Cup.

Last seen winning the Ebor at York, Purple Moon will be up against a number of possible Melbourne rivals, including recent Yalumba Stakes winner Maldivian and the Danny O'Brien-trained Master O'Reilly.

Cumani's wife, Sara, is supervising Purple Moon's Cup campaign and is wary of the threat posed by the Mark Kavanagh-trained Maldivian after his victory over star filly Miss Finland.

'Obviously, we will have to try and keep Maldivian in our sights all the way,' she told www.theage.com.au.

'Purple Moon is starting very full of himself, which is always a good sign, and our experience of travelling horses is that it takes 10 or 12 days for them to really settle in, particularly after such a long trip.'

McEvoy has high hopes of Purple Moon making a winning start to his spell Down Under.

He said: 'Caulfield will not be ideal for Purple Moon but he has an ideal weight with 53kg (8st 5lb) and because of Equine Influenza there are no Sydney horses and the field looks weaker than normal.

'The main danger could be Maldivian who has won a couple of good races recently and looks smart, but I think Purple Moon has got a great chance.

'The Ebor form looks fantastic and he has the perfect profile.

'It is so hard to carry top weight in the top Australian races so the fact that he has a nice weight for both races means he has a great chance,' McEvoy told Teletext.

'I've spoken to Mr Cumani who said he couldn't be happier with the horse and it would be great for me as an Aussie to win on a Pommie horse!'

(C) PA Sport