Glen Boss's chances of claiming a fourth Melbourne Cup trophy are almost certain to hinge on English stayer Gatewood earning a ballot-exempt place in this year's race.

Boss is so far without a ride in the race he won three times on Makybe Diva but his fortunes have taken a turn for the better with Gatewood's nomination for Flemington on Saturday.

Gatewood took out the Geelong Cup last week but remains 36th in the order of entry for the Melbourne Cup after receiving only a 1kg penalty.

The penalty lifted the John Gosden-trained five-year-old's weight to 52.5kg but Boss said he was aiming for the stayer to make a "back door" entry into the Melbourne Cup.

"I'm going to try and squeeze Gatewood into the race," Boss said.

"He's going to run in the (Group Three Lexus Stakes) on Saturday."

Boss said he was confident Gatewood could win the 2500m Cup qualifier.

"John Gosden's got him in great shape down at Werribee so if he can race his way into the field, in my mind he's a legitimate top-four chance of winning the race.

"He only got a kilo penalty and I was hoping for a kilo-and-a-half so he's going to obviously go in the back door, which is not the norm for the Europeans, to back up.

"But he's had two very soft runs so he's still got very fresh legs and (owner) Terry (Henderson) said to me he had seen him at Werribee this morning and he looks unbelievable."

Boss said the Lexus would be an ideal race for Gatewood and maintained the horse would still be fresh enough to be highly competitive in the Melbourne Cup.

"It's going to be run at his tempo - hopefully a soft victory and we go into Tuesday with the hope that there are still fresh legs," he said.

Owners OTI Racing have nominated the English stayer for both the $1 million Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) as well as the $250,000 Lexus Stakes with both races offering the winner ballot exemption into the Melbourne Cup.

Henderson said the issue was whether the potential for increasing the horse's future stallion prospects outweighed what was best for his Melbourne Cup pursuit.

"We have to weigh up whether the potential increase of Gatewood's value as a stallion makes it worth running in the Mackinnon," Henderson told racingvictoria.net.au.

"If we think it isn't the best option for his Melbourne Cup chances then we will run in the Lexus.

"Backing him up shouldn't be an issue as he has just come through the run at Geelong so well," he said.

AAP TURF rg/w