Forget Boom Time, get on John Bongiorno's featherweight Melbourne Cup contender, Cismontane
Cismontane, a horse part-owned by Marshall White estate agent John Bongiorno, won the weekend Lexus Stakes and gained a place in Tuesday's Melbourne Cup.
The final field contains 11 internationals and 13 Australian-trained gallopers.
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott will attempt to snatch the Cup with their featherweight hope, Cismontane.
It is owned by the Glenvallen Investments Pty Ltd Syndicate (Mgr: F L Li), D H Kobritz, J B Bongiorno, D W Lilley, C Tognolini, S D Gorman & Ms K Waterhouse.
Gai Waterhouse, David Kobritz and Bongiorno – also known by ‘Jack’ – have held the Melbourne Cup aloft on prior first Tuesdays in November but they didn't expect to be at Flemington this year.
Kobritz has his first Melbourne Cup runner since Subzero.
In 2012 Bongiorno had part ownership of two runners in the Melbourne Cup.
He has an interest in Glencadam Gold and also Fiorente, both trained by Gai Waterhouse.
Fiorente took the Melbourne Cup win in 2013.
In 2015 he sold champion jockey Damien Oliver's Port Melbourne’s Beacon Cove offering for almost $2.2 million.
Most of Melbourne's agents take time off during the Melbourne Cup carnival - with just the 300 weekend auctions last Saturday.
But no doubt Bongiorno is still seeking out interested buyers of prestige Melbourne property. His recent sales include a $7 million Kooyong sale.
Meanwhile Lloyd Williams, who regularly appears in the property news, will chase an unprecedented sixth Cup.
Williams has a record six runners — defending champion Almandin, Johannes Vermeer, Rekindling, US Army Ranger, Bondi Beach and Gallante.
Trainer David Hayes has two horses in the race, his Caulfield Cup winner Boom Time and Ventura Storm, which counts billionaire retailer Brett Blundy and his fellow Rich Lister, the aged care magnate Bryan Dorman in its star-studded ownership group, as well as Yalumba Wines boss Robert Hill-Smith and Melbourne business identity Michael Valmorbida.
