MELBOURNE United has appointed Dean Vickerman as head coach for the next two NBL seasons.

KELLY Schweida admits he’s still at a loss to explain why Cellargirl failed to keep up in the early stages last start and that’s his biggest worry ahead of her Doomben tilt on Saturday.

HARLEM and Jon Snow will need to pass vet tests on Saturday morning after stewards expressed concerns about their fitness following an inspection of the 36 second acceptors for Tuesday’s $6.25 million Emirates Melbourne Cup.

TRY as he might, Greg Hickman can’t avoid the hype.

GAI Waterhouse is still hopeful of having a Melbourne Cup starter with her tough stayer Cismontane in a must-win situation in the Group 3 $300,000 Lexus Stakes (2500m) at Flemington on Saturday.