Sportsbet in the Northern Territory have taken on their biggest client with the customer placing a $1 million wager on Weekend Hussler to win today’s Underwood Stakes as being reported in today’s SMH.

It would appear as though punters are backing Weekend Hussler only and leaving a lot of the others alone, so expect to see some great odds about for Maldivian, Pompeii Ruler and Light Fantastic.  The main question however has to be the 1800m and can Weekend Hussler dominate like he has up to 1600.  Weekend Hussler is only proven up to 1600m, mind you his biggest win so far this preparation by 2.5 lengths was his last start over 1600 in the Maykbe Diva Stakes.  Light Fantastic seemed to be off his race that day and Maldivian was not there. I think this will be a bigger test, not just for the 1800 but a tougher group across the board to try and beat home.

From our Melbourne Cup perspective, while a lot of the action will take place at the pointy end of the field.  We need to be keeping an eye our for the following runners looking to continue their Melbourne Cup preparations:  Douro Valley, The Fuzz, Viewed, Zarita and Riva San.  None of these runners really have a chance today, altough I would not be surprised if Zarita popped up for a place, but key an eye out for these horses hitting the line.

Also, race 9 at Caulfield has a few Melbourne Cup potential runners in, Dolphin Jo, Zavite and Leica Falcon, come back for posts

There was a lot of action over the weekend not just here in Australia but around the globe for the build up to the 2008 Melbourne Cup.

Maldivian was a valiant 4th in the Group II Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes at Moonee Valley on Saturday. Maldivian had to do a lot of work alone to chase down the early leaders Sir Slick and Jungle Ruler before running out of juice and overtaken by Guillotine, Casual Pass and Tears I Cry, the race did nothing more then put cash in the bookies pockets to be honest. This was not a race for Maldivian, not even sure why he ran it myself, maybe the connections thought it was an easy Group 2 win. I think he is being a little over raced and if reports are correct that he’ll be lining up in the Underwood Stakes again Weekend Hussler and Light Fantastic, might be overdone come Cox Plate and Caulfield Cup time.

Tuesday Joy meanwhile firmed in Melbourne Cup betting with a win in the Group II Stocks Stakes flashing home late to snatch it from Devil Moon that was in my mind the best horse in the race. Devil Moon jumped from gate 13 well and pushed up early and had to sit 4 wide the entire circuit and to be just beaten by Tuesday Joy was a great run, I’ll be all over Devil Moon next start if he draws a good gate. And a note for all those thinking of Tuesday Joy repeating Makybe Diva’s Caulfield Cup – Melbourne Cup double, with a win at Moonee Valley, Tuesday Joy could easily start the Cox Plate and then into the Melbourne Cup skipping the Caulfield Cup.

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The JJ Liston Stakes was run Saturday 16th August and saw a number of the 2008 Melbourne Cup hopefuls setup out for the first time since spelling after the Autumn carnvials. Of the horses of interest, Maldivian, Zavite, Weekend Hussler, Kibbutz, Alamosa and Light Fantastic were all resuming. The lead up to this race was all about last seasons 3 year old heavy weights Weekend Hussler (the one to beat) and Light Fantastic ( the main threat).

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