"That is why I was smiling around 10.30 this morning when the draws came out.
"I think it gives him a chance to get straight on to the rail and into his rhythm and then Vinnie (Colgan) can rate him."
While it would be easy for punters to discount Wairoa Cup form as well as any horse trying to lead over 3200m, Big Mike is much more than a provincial newbie to the big time.
Last season he travelled to Victoria where he won the listed A$327,000 Pakenham Cup over 2500m but it was anothertrip to Australia laterthat season that gutted Big Mike.
"He was great in Victoria but later we took him to Sydney and he got a virus or something because it wrecked him," explains Phelan.
"He came home stuffed and it took us six months to get him back to anything like his best.
"When we did we started to put the work back into him and he has really turned around.
"I rang Dummy (Kevin) Myers and he was the one who suggested taking him to Wairoa, to get his confidence back because that is the sort of thing he would do.
"So I think we have him back to his best and he will get his chance on Saturday."
Big Mike may be rated a $26 hope but this Cup puzzle is a fascinating one with such varied formlines.
There are Australian visitors like Azuro, who has won the Queensland and Sandown Cups over 3200m and Sound, who was 12th in Vow And Declare's Melbourne Cup in November.
There are domestic 3200m regulars like New Zealand Cup winnerDee And Gee, Wellington Cup winners in Gorbachev and Soleseifei and a Dunstan Feeds Stayers Champ in Paisley Park.
Favourite Platinum Invador won a City Of Auckland Cup that required two starts, Bully Boy won the Omoto Cup which replaced the Kumara Gold Nuggets (which is a long story involving wild pigs) and Joe's Legacy ran second two starts ago to the subsequent Vodafone Derby winner Sherwood Forest.
The formline the bookies have deemed the most relevant is Platinum Invador's storming late second in the Avondale Cup last start and he has opened the $3.50 favourite ahead
of the two Australian raiders.
The TAB can't split Cool Aza Beel and Play That Song ($2.20 each) in the $200,000 Sistema Stakes while Saturday's other group one, the $200,000 Bonecrusher NZ Stakes, has Avantage just top pick at $4.50 ahead of Rock On Wood at $4.60 and Supera rated a $5 chance.
Auckland Cup Day
● What: The last majorrace meeting of the Ellerslie summer season.
● When: Firstrace 12.45pm onSaturday.
● Group ones: $500,000 Barfoot And Thompson Auckland Cup, $200,000 Sistema Stakes, $200,000 Bonecrusher NZ Stakes.
Auckland Cup (G1)
M2, Ellerslie, Saturday 5.35pm
Stakes: $500,000 Distance: 3200m
● 1. 53137 Azuro (16) Jason Waddell (56) $5.50 $2.15
● 2. 36101 Gorbachev (4) Jonathan Riddell (56) $19.00 $4.80
● 3. 32102 Platinum Invador (6) Leith Innes (56) $3.50 $1.60
● 4. X0811 Big Mike (1) Vinnie Colgan (55.5) $26.00 $5.50
● 5. 95526 Felaar (10) Matthew Cameron (55.5) $16.00 $4.40
● 6. 00553 Sound (5) James Winks (55) $6.00 $2.25
● 7. 22552 Roger That (17) Samantha Collett (55) $26.00 $5.50
● 8. 60632 The Good Fight (2) Sam Weatherley (55) (a) $10.00 $3.30
● 9. 62155 Paisley Park (8) Johnathan Parkes (55) $19.00 $4.80
● 10. 51584 Bully Boy (14) Danielle Johnson (55) $61.00 $10.00
● 11. 42221 Joe's Legacy (15) Michael Coleman (55) $13.00 $3.80
● 12. 58570 Excalibur (9) Sam Spratt (55) $51.00 $8.00
● 13. 80884 King Of The Dance (11) Cameron Lammas (55) $81.00 $15.00
● 14. 76350 Dragon Storm (13) Lynsey Satherley (55) $61.00 $10.00
● 15. 15600 Dee And Gee (12) Leah Hemi (54) $41.00 $7.25
● 16. 43317 Soleseifei (7) Trudy Thornton (54) $19.00 $4.80
● 17. 64163 Etah James (3) Shaun McKay (53.5) $12.00 $3.60
