Jockey Dominic Tourneur says he doesn't feel the weight of expectation riding leading fancy Alcopop in the Melbourne Cup.

Tourneur, 35, will ride for the first time at Flemington on Tuesday but he said he wasn't letting the occasion of Australia's biggest race day get to him.

"I actually feel pretty calm," Tourneur said.

He said he was treating Cup Day like any other race meeting and was focused on making it five wins a row for Alcopop who has had a meteoric rise to make the Cup field.

"Obviously I have got a job to do but I pretty much get out there week in week out and do the same thing," Tourneur said.

"It is just a bigger occasion with more prizemoney attached to it."

But jockey Corey Brown says it will be unusual for Tourneur not to get nervous when it gets closer the start of the big race.

Brown, who has ridden in eight Melbourne Cups, said experience can count when it comes to the Cup.

"Alcopop hasn't been there and neither has the jockey," Brown said.

"My first couple of Cups I was nervous and I can imagine what Dom is going to go through the first time.

"It can be a daunting thing. It is just different (from anything else)."

Twice Brown has finished second in the Melbourne Cup - on Bauer who went within a breath of beating Viewed last year, and Mr Prudent who was beaten by Media Puzzle in 2002.

Brown said it was hard to take going so close last year but he is hopeful he can break through on the Mark Kavanagh-trained Shocking.

Michael Rodd rode the four-year-old on Saturday when he romped home in the Lexus Stakes (2500m) but Brown knows the horse well having ridden at him his two previous runs when second in both the Herbert Power Stakes to Alcopop and Coongy Handicap to Baughurst.

"He (Shocking) got cluttered up on the fence on the weekend but I think it created a bigger turn of foot for him and he attacked the line pretty well," Corey said.

"Hopefully he will get a bit of cover from the awkward gate (barrier 22) tomorrow and with a nice light weight on his back he will look the winner somewhere."

Damien Oliver is the most experienced Cup jockey, lining up in the race for the 20th time and chasing his third win after victories on Doriemus (1995) and Media Puzzle.

Oliver, who will ride Warringah, said he had learned a lot about the Cup over the years which he hopes can give him an edge, particularly against 10 first-time Cup jockeys this year.

"When you have a bit of experience in it (the Melbourne Cup) it certainly does help you," Oliver said.

"You know the routine, pre-race routine, how the race is going to be run usually, and when the time to move is right," Oliver said.

"Hopefully we have the horse good enough to do it this year."

Warringah arrived with a band of international horses for the Cup but has been transferred from Sir Michael Stoute's stable to Sydney trainer Chris Waller.

Oliver has had an affinity with international Cup horses in the past including Media Puzzle and second placegetters Pop Rock (2006) and Purple Moon (2007).