The Melbourne Cup dream is still alive for the English galloper Gatewood.

But his owner Terry Henderson is more hopeful of running in the 2013 edition than next Tuesday at Flemington.

The victim of bad luck and a desire to beat the handicapper in his quest for a Cup start, Gatewood will run in Saturday’s Lexus Stakes (2500m) at Flemington in a bid to both earn some prizemoney and keep his Cup options open.

Gatewood must win the Lexus to secure a Cup start, but at the same time, it would mean the Melbourne Cup would be his fourth run in 25 days, an unusually heavy load for a European horse.

“The Melbourne Cup remains an option, but we’re conscious that he’s a young horse who has his whole career ahead of him,” Henderson said.

Gatewood opened his Australian account with a luckless seventh in the Herbert Power Stakes at Caulfield on October 13 and then scored impressively in the Geelong Cup last week.

While he is qualified for the Melbourne Cup 2012, Gatewood was originally handicapped on 51.5kg and received only a 1kg penalty for the Geelong win, leaving him down the list of qualified horses.

“The thing is, he’s bounced out of the Geelong Cup,” Henderson said.

“He’s improved if anything.”

Gatewood will remain in Australia and will go Sydney’s premier trainer Chris Waller.

Henderson’s OTI syndicate will also run the Luca Cumani-trained Ibicenco in the Lexus.