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...
 
I wonder if a win or strong performance from a favored horse in the Caulfield Cup will have them challenging the great Vauban for Melb.Cup favoritism..?? Hope so - means his odds will then drift and I can pile more $$ into Vauban...!!
 
I think the best roughie is Scriptwriter at $201/$51 (TAB). He’s got just 50.5kgs and sits at 37 in the OOE but with the sort of attrition we’ve seen in the last 2 years (almost to the point of not getting a full field) I think he’s a good chance to get in.

I understand he’s been bought by Richard Pegum and others. Pegum’s a canny operator. He’s been transferred to Waller and there are always risks backing Waller horses in futures markets as Horse Miller can attest.

When trained by Aidan O’Brien he ran pretty respectably in a couple of Group 3s as a 2 year old and was then sold and put over the hurdles. Subsequently he’s had 3 races on the flat. The first of those was the Copper Horse Handicap where Vauban obliterated the field, but I think Scriptwriter’s run was on a par with that of Absurde who finished second and the gap between them is largely down to position in the run and the 1.36kgs Scriptwriter conceded.

His run when second to the very handy Hamish in the Silver Cup Stakes was very good.

His latest run in the Ebor was pretty good as it seemed he struggled to get clear running late in the race. First Yashin blocked his run on the rails and then he had to switch direction several times for clear running. Absurde won that race, and Scriptwriter gave him 0.9kgs.

In the Melbourne Cup Scriptwriter gets 2.5kgs from Absurde. Absurde is a ridiculous $15 with the TAB. I think there’s a good chance Scriptwriter beats him home.

The horse is no superstar, and I can't make the case for him to beat the top 5 or 6 in the market, but he’ll get the 2 miles and, with a month still before the race it’s likely that several of the faves will go amiss.

The place bet looks better than the win. Since he’s now with Waller, there’s a fair chance they pull the pin and set him for the Sydney autumn so I wouldn’t be piling in heavily even in place bets. He’s a good one for the bottom of tri’s and F4s if he gets to the race.

420/1 available for the Geelong Cup-Melbourne Cup double.
 
I wonder if a win or strong performance from a favored horse in the Caulfield Cup will have them challenging the great Vauban for Melb.Cup favoritism..?? Hope so - means his odds will then drift and I can pile more $$ into Vauban...!!

Unlikely, corps will frame it at 150% instead of 152%. Plus there’s any liquidity they are holding.
 

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420/1 available for the Geelong Cup-Melbourne Cup double.
Happy enough with the few shekels I have on him at $201/$51.

Up to 32 in the OOE. Looking a good chance of a start in the MC even without a win at Geelong. But would want to be winning at Geelong or running well without luck for them to press on to the MC.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Scriptwriter? Can’t find on Lads or TAB for Geelong Cup.

It’s called more felonies now but jug is taking the piss. This thing couldn’t be competitive if it started today.

My point was this late in the game taking 200:1 about a horse that needs to get in is almost always going to be way worse than taking the double of it in the race it needs to win into the Melbourne cup
 
I doubt that FKA Scriptwriter needs to win the Geelong Cup to get in. There will be bulk attrition still due to vet checks and lack of form to justify paying the hefty final acceptance fee. I think he’ll need to run well at Geelong to convince his owners to pay the final acceptance fee.
 
The point is even then he will be going around as a 100s chance.
No chance of that if he wins the Geelong Cup. The SP of the last 7 GC winners to contest the MC has ranged from $17-$41. Of those, 2 have run second in the MC: Emissary (last year) and Prince of Arran (2019), and one has run 4th (Qewy in 2017).

Scriptwriter’s Euro form is similar but arguably superior to Qewy’s, with both having contested lower grade stakes races and hurdles.
 
No chance of that if he wins the Geelong Cup. The SP of the last 7 GC winners to contest the MC has ranged from $17-$41. Of those, 2 have run second in the MC: Emissary (last year) and Prince of Arran (2019), and one has run 4th (Qewy in 2017).

Scriptwriter’s Euro form is similar but arguably superior to Qewy’s, with both having contested lower grade stakes races and hurdles.

JFC - that's my point - if he WINS the Geelong Cup you should be taking the $420/1 double now; not 200/1 a month ago when he has to win to get in.

I was talking about if he happens to not win the Geelong Cup and then get into the MC by attrition - would have to be some kind of monumental Geelong Cup defeat to go around sub 50/1
 

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WAF Dry and Gold Trip Wet straight to the top as the top 2 seeds.
Yeah. It looks a race lacking of depth with only 5 or 6 real chances.
 
Paris.
Any thoughts on what I should do with this?

I'd probs just let it ride. Only alternative is to what until final field, see what price it is and lay it on Betfair - you might be able to give up like $5k worth of the payout to get $700 back - the problem is you will need that $5k in Betfair.

Another option is it's looking like a pretty weak year so you could just back the 2 or 3 other main chances and pray there isn't a complete blow out.
 
Paris.
Any thoughts on what I should do with this?
The real question on this one is how on earth did you score a 5X multiplier with TAB hahaha! :cool:

Never had better then 1.5x, and that was on some shitbox race at globe derby on a Monday or something when I had watched the couple of races I was interested in and realised I forgot to use my multiplier ha.
 

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Racing Melbourne Cup 2023 ( no after the fact posts)

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