Saeed bin Suroor's seemingly fruitless forays to Melbourne have been going on for the best part of two decades, but not even he can remember walking a Melbourne Cup tightrope quite like this year.
The Godolphin trainer's travelling squad has been limited to three this spring, but only Sky Hunter is a confirmed Melbourne Cup starter.
Bin Suroor has been forced to scramble to qualify his other two Cup hopefuls with Secret Number (Lexus Stakes) and Elhaame (Mackinnon Stakes) both set to run on Derby Day this Saturday. 
Secret Number is languishing at 27th in the order of entry after second acceptances were declared on Monday, one spot below Moonee Valley Gold Cup winner The United States, who was penalised 2.5kg for his win on Saturday.
Elhaame is stranded at 38th, meaning bin Suroor will more than likely split his two runners at Flemington three days out from the Cup in an 11th-hour bid to make the field of 24.
"We never do this [run Melbourne Cup hopefuls on Derby Day], but sometimes we have to [play by] Australian rules," bin Suroor joked. "If Secret Number is in [the field] things will be normal, but we have to wait."
That wait is not likely to deliver him good news though, with a clean bill of health for most of the contenders forcing bin Suroor into unfamiliar territory.
While the annual visit of the world's most powerful racing stable to the Melbourne Cup often ends in heartache - Central Park (1999), Give The Slip (2001) and Crime Scene (2009) have all been runners-up - bin Suroor's sense of humour remains. 
He even had time to joke he would have to find "someone light like me" to ride Elhaame in the Cup should he make it with just 50kg.
"I try to focus more here ... I love it here," he said. "[But] the Melbourne Cup is a tough race. I've always said it's an open race.
"You need to pick the best horse you can that has the speed, can stay the trip and handle the ground. These horses are mile-and-a-quarter and mile-and-a-half that have showed some speed. This suits them.
"This is the three I was thinking about in   January for the Melbourne Cup. If there are three of them in the race that will be great."
Elhaame worked impressively on the Werribee synthetic surface, but remains a $101 chance to win the Melbourne Cup with Ladbrokes.
If either he or Secret Number can squeeze into the field it will eclipse the previous record of 11 internationally trained horses featuring in the Melbourne Cup set in 2011.
Notable withdrawals from the Melbourne Cup after second acceptances were taken include Rising Romance, which will instead tackle the Mackinnon Stakes, Victoria Oaks heroine Set Square and Hauraki.???
The dream of the late Bart Cummings' Precedence making a fifth Cup appearance is over after he was withdrawn from nominations.
Japan's Fame Game was first on the track on Monday morning and almost last to leave of the workers emerging from the first barn, and has been rock solid at the top of markets at $4.
Three-time runner-up Red Cadeaux and Ed Dunlop-trained stablemate Trip To Paris, a $7.50 second favourite on the strength of his runner-up effort in the Caulfield Cup, will have their last serious workout on Thursday morning.
"They won't work together as they'll be too keen, so we'll work them separately," Dunlop's foreman Robin Trevor-Jones said.