Racing Melbourne Cup 2023 ( no after the fact posts)

Melbourne Cup winner??

  • 2.ALENQUER(9) - Damien Oliver

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 8.RIGHT YOU ARE(15) - John Allen

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 13.OKITA SOUSHI(20) - Dylan Gibbons (a)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 14.SHERAZ(22) - Beau Mertens

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 16.MAGICAL LAGOON(7) - Mark Du Plessis

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 19.VIRTUOUS CIRCLE(6) - Craig Newitt

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 22.INTERPRETATION(17) - Teo Nugent

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 23.KALAPOUR(14) - Zac Lloyd (a)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    99
  • Poll closed .

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Post Caulfield Cup rankings

1A. GOLD TRIP - Really good run in the Caulfield Cup beating everything bar the winner heading this way comfortably. Expect Flemington to suit him a lot better and presume he meets WAF slightly better at the weights now heading there. Has the class and is already proven running out a strong 2 miles in the Melbourne Cup. All going to be weather dependent as to whether he is the top seed or not. If the track has give in it then it really improves his chances and puts the slows on his main rivals.

1B. WITHOUT A FIGHT - Brilliant winner of the Caulfield Cup. Had a couple lengths on Gold Trip and 5 lengths + on everything else heading this way so very hard to see anything else bar GT being able to turn the tables at Flemington. Technically he is unproven at the trip but with 2800m form in England the expectation is that shouldn't be a problem out here. His wheels don't spin on a wet surface though so if we have a soft track then its almost rule a line territory. Firm track though and he is the one to beat.

3. SOULCOMBE - Complete barrier rogue. Walked out 8 lengths behind them in the Caulfield Cup and ran really well considering. Made up good ground in that race through the 800-600 and was on the back of WAF and GT but then got crowded for a bit of room in the straight before plugging home reasonably. I think 2 miles at Flemington will suit him perfectly and that was a decent Cup trial all things considered but he is just consistently shit at the barriers and is just getting worse so no reason to think he wont miss the kick poorly at Flemington again and have to pass the whole field.

4. VAUBAN - Valiant King didn't exactly frank the form at Caulfield but he finished around these sort of horses and Vauban did beat him pretty comfortably by a couple lengths so would expect him to be in this sort of area still.

5. BREAKUP - Average at best Caulfield Cup run and he just didnt seem fast enough or good enough to sustain speed over 2400m. I expect the bigger Flemington track and the 2 miles to both be better suited for him but not by enough to be able to make up the difference on those already rated ahead of him.

Doesn't seem any point in going beyond this for winning chances for me. It was a strong Caulfield Cup and that is THE form race for Flemington with the other lead ups looking pretty lackluster. For the sake of looking deeper ill just round out the list with the best roughies for the back end of exotics.

ASHRUN - Currently $120 was one of the better runs out of the Bart Cummings. Off the scene for pretty much 2 years his first up run this prep was really good sitting 3WNC and getting beat 3.75L over 1700m. Backed that up in the Bart Cummings running on really well from last clocking the best last 800, 600 and 400 whilst giving away 5kg to the first two.

DAQUIANSWEET JUNIOR - Currently $101. As previously stated in this thread he is basically on the same prep as last year where he ran a credible 6th in the Cup and gets in nice and light in the weights. His 3200m form in this country is good and generally runs above market expectations when getting out to a trip so can see him running past some more tired horses at the end.

SPANISH MISSION - Currently $65. As said above he had been pegged as an out and out 2 miler since he got here and he has had 6 runs since that Spring for 5 goes at 2000m or less and one go at 2400m on a wet track which he doesn't go on. He is older, locally trained and had injuries so obviously not near his best but he has a lot more class potential than anything else in the dregs and his last start Turnbull 8th has a lot of merit crossing the line with most of these types.

VIRTUOUS CIRCLE - Currently $55. Had no luck in the Bart Cummings when running into traffic everywhere. Think he finishes considerably closer with luck and meets most of that field better of fat the weights should they meet again at Flemington.

MORE FELONS - Currently $300. For the plays tall believers. Yet to be seen but on his European form he isn't really any worse off than a lot of others also making up the numbers and he is a considerably better price than most of them. He will stay the 2 miles no problems and gets in light at the weights. For comparison he took on Absurde in the Ebor in their last race start before coming here and he was 14/1 vs 7/1 in that race carrying basically a kilo more and now meets him 3.5kg better off for a 3 length defeat in that race so I think id rather spec MF at 15x the price.


Trouble with a lot of the roughies though is they are on the day F4 add ons and if they run well before the Cup the odds will likely be gone and if they run like shit you probably dont want to be with them...
 
That's the best run Cleveland has put in since coming to Aus. First time he has showed a turn of foot and he ran up the straight with his head up, which lengthens his stride. Lees might have worked him out. Still be surprised if he wins but best of the lightweights and will run the trip out. Goes in to my tris/4's as a 3rd or 4th.
Any news of a penalty?
 
That's the best run Cleveland has put in since coming to Aus. First time he has showed a turn of foot and he ran up the straight with his head up, which lengthens his stride. Lees might have worked him out. Still be surprised if he wins but best of the lightweights and will run the trip out. Goes in to my tris/4's as a 3rd or 4th.
Any news of a penalty?

The problem is Future History meets him a stack better at the weights and was arguably as good a run if not better on the night.
 

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Serpentine nom for Sydney on Saturday.
Wouldn't run in both?

Straight to the Cup

“Lloyd said he will get in and I won’t be questioning him. Lloyd wants Serpentine to go straight into the Cup and I bow to his superior knowledge,” Waterhouse said.

“Lloyd isn’t worried about him needing to get in and he wants him to go straight to the Melbourne Cup, and who am I to argue with him.”
 
Imagine the uproar if GT is scratched during Melbourne Cup day if the track is up graded from good 4 to a good 3 during the day. Do not think they will have the balls to do it. They did not do it in the cox plate, it is more of ploy to get more juice in the track ala Lee Freeman and Makybe Diva's third cup.
 
Imagine the uproar if GT is scratched during Melbourne Cup day if the track is up graded from good 4 to a good 3 during the day. Do not think they will have the balls to do it. They did not do it in the cox plate, it is more of ploy to get more juice in the track ala Lee Freeman and Makybe Diva's third cup.
Yep, it’s just a ploy.

And their nonsense commentary (will we run/ won’t we run) through the Spring is getting a bit annoying.
 
Basically same price betfair

Yeah expect very little movement at the top end, market is tight enough up there even by Betfair standards. WAF got to 9.4 yesterday morning back to sub 9 now. Know you give it none Paris (hence giving Vauban none), VK firmed with the corps yesterday and briefly on the fair; outside of him I haven’t seen much movement at all (that said I only check it every 15 mins 😂).

Hawkins now in the Vauban camp after LF out, that’ll please you Paris.
 
I’m surprised Zahra hopped off Gold Trip. I think GT’s a much better chance than Without A Fight. GT meets him a kilo better at the weights from the CC and Gold Trip is proven at the trip, unlike WAF.

I think the result for WAF last year was not just about track conditions because he travelled well throughout and moved into the race beautifully at the top of the straight. If he wasn’t handling the conditions I’d expect it would’ve been apparent earlier in the race.

History is littered with horses that looked very strong in the CC but hit a wall in the Melbourne Cup.

Not suggesting WAF is without a chance…just think the relative price difference between GT and WAF is right, and Zahra got it wrong.
 

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I’m surprised Zahra hopped off Gold Trip. I think GT’s a much better chance than Without A Fight. GT meets him a kilo better at the weights from the CC and Gold Trip is proven at the trip, unlike WAF.

I think the result for WAF last year was not just about track conditions because he travelled well throughout and moved into the race beautifully at the top of the straight. If he wasn’t handling the conditions I’d expect it would’ve been apparent earlier in the race.

History is littered with horses that looked very strong in the CC but hit a wall in the Melbourne Cup.

Not suggesting WAF is without a chance…just think the relative price difference between GT and WAF is right, and Zahra got it wrong.

Agree with this - certainly feel like GT has the runs on the board over WAF. Just 1 week to go and I am exited! Loved Vaubans gallop thiis morning at headquarters- and I’m speaking throughout my pocket here as I jumped on him months ago but he is certainly the X factor horse
I’ve enjoyed this thread and the associated banter - we will all know our fate - trainers, bookies, jockeys, traders and punters this time next week…bring on the great race!


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I’m surprised Zahra hopped off Gold Trip. I think GT’s a much better chance than Without A Fight. GT meets him a kilo better at the weights from the CC and Gold Trip is proven at the trip, unlike WAF.

I think the result for WAF last year was not just about track conditions because he travelled well throughout and moved into the race beautifully at the top of the straight. If he wasn’t handling the conditions I’d expect it would’ve been apparent earlier in the race.

History is littered with horses that looked very strong in the CC but hit a wall in the Melbourne Cup.

Not suggesting WAF is without a chance…just think the relative price difference between GT and WAF is right, and Zahra got it wrong.

Traveling into the race and not letting down is exactly what happens when you don’t handle the track. You don’t find out until asked for the ultimate effort. Plus he was basically gone at the 2400m mark last year and we know he gets that trip

It’s obvious he has chosen WAF because of the forecast. If there was even a hint of rain he would have chosen Goldie
 
Traveling into the race and not letting down is exactly what happens when you don’t handle the track. You don’t find out until asked for the ultimate effort. Plus he was basically gone at the 2400m mark last year and we know he gets that trip

It’s obvious he has chosen WAF because of the forecast. If there was even a hint of rain he would have chosen Goldie
We’ll see.

He won a couple of races on soft in Europe, albeit lower grade races. He also ran a couple of 3rds in listed company against a few handy types over there. He’s not a duffer in the wet by any means, but he appears to prefer good ground. The point is, the wet track last year does not appear to fully explain his abject failure that day. Which invites the question of whether there was another factor (such as distance) at play.

The myth that Gold Trip needs wet tracks has been exploded this Spring. His hooves are apparently much better now, perhaps that explains his handling good tracks.

If Zahra’s preference was based on the ground they’re likely to get, he hasn’t been paying attention.
 
We’ll see.

He won a couple of races on soft in Europe, albeit lower grade races. He also ran a couple of 3rds in listed company against a few handy types over there. He’s not a duffer in the wet by any means, but he appears to prefer good ground. The point is, the wet track last year does not appear to fully explain his abject failure that day. Which invites the question of whether there was another factor (such as distance) at play.

The myth that Gold Trip needs wet tracks has been exploded this Spring. His hooves are apparently much better now, perhaps that explains his handling good tracks.

If Zahra’s preference was based on the ground they’re likely to get, he hasn’t been paying attention.

His 3rds in Listed grade were in a field of 4 and his other was beaten 14.5 lengths so take them with a giant grain of salt.

He obviously still needs to prove himself at the trip but the overwhelming majority of the time if you can run 2800m in Europe you can run 3200m down here. His run last year was far too poor to be put down to the trip for me. He was gone miles out and finished over 20 lengths off them
 
We’ll see.



If Zahra’s preference was based on the ground they’re likely to get, he hasn’t been paying attention.

Perhaps it was a result of him being on the horse as it gave Goldie windburn on good ground at Caulfield.
 
i tipped GT last year and won plenty off him. I will study the form a lot over the weekend and have started watching video replays tonight. Without putting a lot of thought into other chances, i think Cleveland is a huge chance with only 51.5kg on its back and its not cos its named after me hahaha. I'm anxious to see who jumps on its back.
 
i tipped GT last year and won plenty off him. I will study the form a lot over the weekend and have started watching video replays tonight. Without putting a lot of thought into other chances, i think Cleveland is a huge chance with only 51.5kg on its back and its not cos its named after me hahaha. I'm anxious to see who jumps on its back.
I was joking around with my Collingwood supporting mate in March this year before the AFL season. He was talking the Pies up as usual and I randomly chucked a fiver on a Collingwood flag/Cleveland MC at 300/1. More for a giggle than anything. I'd written off the Cleveland leg until his run on Friday night!
 
If you like Cleveland at $28 then you must LOVE Kalapour at 10x that given there was pretty much nothing between them in both Sydney runs

Or Futue History who is the same price (I assume) and meats it a ton better at the weights for a much better run in the MV cup.
 

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Racing Melbourne Cup 2023 ( no after the fact posts)

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