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As odd couples go, Darren Weir and Joao Moreira are near the top of the pops.
The quintessential bushie, grinning mischievously whenever a television camera is shoved in his face after each winner.
And the uber-polished Moreira, arguably without peer in the saddle and calling the bustling Hong Kong home for now.
The union between the boy from Ballarat - and the other from Brazil - is as unlikely as they come. Weir even admitted to knowing little about Moreira before booking him for Signoff. But the tales of Melbourne Cup winners are not usually cut from the normal cloth.
If history is any guide, Weir and Moreira just might be the toast of the racing world with Signoff after 3pm on Tuesday.
How about this: only one Lexus Stakes favourite in the last 22 years has saluted. His name? Shocking, who went on to Cup glory in 2009.
Weir's response, with cheeky grin on cue: "Oh well, it's just nice to have a horse back in the race. It's good for myself and all my staff at home do a great job."
You do not need to be a rocket scientist to work out Weir wouldn't be an A-grade student if asked to study racing's history books. He is an old school trainer with old school methods.
Moreira, riding with such poise, did not need to be at his brilliant best to whisk Signoff into the Cup via the race's last-chance saloon. He was on the best horse in the race, put it in the best position and finished better than anything else.
Simple philosophy. It was noted by chief handicapper Greg Carpenter, who upped Signoff's Melbourne Cup impost by a kilogram to 51kg, and bookmakers alike who slashed his Cup price to $6 second favourite.
"For me one of the key parts was not only his win today, but also his run at Caulfield [in the Herbert Power] and in that race he finished half-a-length in front of Protectionist and carried six-and-a-half kilos less," Carpenter said.
He will now carry five-and-a-half kilograms less than the German import in the Cup.
From without a ride on Saturday morning, Moreira's ever-increasing hit-and-run raids on Australia may land the country's biggest prize.
"He was so nice and genuine for me and came back, and then at the 700 metres the pace started to pick and he really started to join them and then he found the front so well," Moreira said of his Lexus transit. "He got there so early himself because he was too good. He just ran away from them.
On the two miles of the Cup? "I think he will be pretty good for that race too."
Big Memory and La Amistad, second and third respectively, were never really in the same league as Signoff in the Lexus.
Now Weir will just have to worry he does not strike the same Melbourne Cup curse that dogged one-time favourite Puissance De Lune last year as he prepares to have his fourth runner in the Cup.
"Once you've been involved in it once, it's the dream of every trainer to get back into it," he said. "I guess [Signoff will] be a top-10 chance this year, so it's a big thrill."
