All The Good will need a miricle to make the Melbourne Cup field Tuesday 4th November, with trainer Saeed Bin Suroor reporting that there was no improvement on it’s foreleg leg this morning at Sandown.

At the moment my top 4 for the Melbourne Cup is:

All The Good
Profound Beauty
Gollopin
Littorio

Previously, it was:

All The Good
Sirmione
Profound Beauty
Littorio

If All The Good comes out as expected and with the Saab Quality still to be run, we are looking at

Profound Beauty
Gollopin
Littorio
Boundless

This will more then likely be my top four, I have rated Profound Beauty since it came out a G.Boss got on. Gollopin has been consistant in it’s runs and more importantly times, 18 starts for 8 wins and I think at $26 /$6 is great value. Boundless is has posted some good runs and is a great rough hope,

But the one that I really like at the odds is Littorio who has really come under the radar I think from it’s 5th in the Caulfield Cup. Everyone has been talking about Mad Rush and the way it finished, which was impressive, but Oliver sat back had a rails run and raced for luck through the middle. Littorio was 2 wide most of the race and 3-4 wide at the turn going around the likes of Ice Chariot, and still came home strongly, doing all the hard work.

Littorio is in form and a top quality horse, it has beaten Weekend Hussler, anyone recall this horse. People were talking about it taking all three major Spring races, Cox and both Cups, but was found out that it could not stay. But Littorio has proven to be able to stay, winning at 2000m, and 5th in the Caulfield Cup. It has also had a 3rd in the Australian Derby over 2400m which was won by …Nom Du Jeu, the current melbournecupguide.com readers choice.

There used to be a theory that the Melbourne Cup horse had to race on the Saturday, Derby Day, but has not really held true over the last number of years. Well we’ll get a look at Littorio this weekend racing in the Mackinnon, the last to race on the Saturday and win was Brew in 2000. It finished 2nd to Yippyio (Who then finished 2nd in the Melbourne Cup) in the Moonee Valley Cup, Brew qualified for the Melbourne Cup by winning the The Dalgety on Derby Day.

So again my top 4, each way Gollopin and Boundless, something on Profound Beauty to cover, but most of my hard earned will be on Littorio.

Profound Beauty
Gollopin
Littorio
Boundless

Godolphin finally have something to cheer about down under with All The Good winning the Caulfield Cup at 50-1. I was thinking all week that this was not going to be a race for the favouriates and that an outsider had a chance at taking this one out. I was super keen on Ice Chariot and Mad Rush as hopes but just pick the wrong guys. But having said that, Mad Rush by far and above anything else was finishing the best of any horse including the winner, a 2800 metre race and he storms home.

So the result was All The Good, Nom de Jeu and Barbaricus with Mad Rush for forth. Now I really face a delima as my system that you can get in the guide will have All The Good as the best foreign horse but I am totally hung up on Mad Rush after the Caulfield Cup run.

Ice Chariot I think was out classed or maybe even picked the wrong horse to follow into the race and then didn’t have enough when the go buttons needed to be pressed. You can see from the video below that at about the 600m mark Littorio comes to the outside but does not quite go at that stage and fades a bit before coming home for 5th, but if it had enough to keep going Ice Chariot was ready to follow but they both kind of stalled at the 400-600 mark with nothing really coming. Ice Chariot was still grinding away but has no turn of speed whereas Littorio kicked

Over the next few days, while sitting here in Tasmania over looking Constitution Dock I will put together my top four horses as it currently stands for the Melbourne Cup and we’ll see ow things stack up. The important thing to keep in mind is not to get caught up in all this and think about some horses outside of this race, the likes of Efficient, Zipping etc are still out there.

Otherwise, the Caulfield Cup has just confirmed everything that we knew about Weekend Hussler and some people did not want to believe. Weekend Hussler is a great 1600 metre runner, perhaps the best and should stick with that. Horses like Desert War, knew their place and dominated the EPSOM and that distance, I don’t think we’ll see Weekend Hussler in the Cox or Melbourne Cup and should be spelled to tackle more appropriate races in the Auntum like the Doncaster.

Here it is…The 2008 Caulfield Cup

G’day Racing Fans,

Just a few items that need addressing from last weekends racing. Dolphin Jo, who ran 5th in the 2007 Melbourne Cup, ran on well in the Winning Edge Presentation over 2400m to win and now sits about about $40 for the Melbourne Cup having hovered around $100+, could be some value given he is proven to run out the 3200m, reply of the race is below to review. Dolphin Jo beat home the Wolverine and Cafalu.

The other major race with Melbourne Cup interest was the Yalumba taken out by last years Caulfield Cup runner up Douro Valley at long odds mind you. I am very disappointed not to be on him as I was all over him this time last year in the lead up to the Caulfield Cup. Douro Valley was just able to keep grinding on over the last 200m to hold off Pompeii Ruler and Guillotine.

Winning Edge Presentation

Yalumba

So this leaves us this weekend with one of the major lead up races, the Caulfield Cup. This has been a good indication of form, while the last winner of the Caulfield Cup / Melbourne Cup Double was Ethereal in 2001 place getters have done well in the Melbourne Cup, the last being Delta Blues in 2006 who finished 2nd in the Caulfield Cup and obviously won the same year, the great mare Makybe Diva did the same in 2004.

List of Caulfeild Cup / Melbourne Cup doubles

Year Winner
1906 Poseidon
1937 The Trump
1939 Rivette
1954 Rising Fast
1962 Even Stevens
1966 Galilee
1982 Gurner’s Lane
1991 Let’s Elope
1995 Doriemus
1997 Might and Power
2001 Ethereal

Skipton won the 1941 Melbourne Cup as a 3YO and then won a division of the 1943 Caulfield Cup.

Rising Fast won the 1955 Caulfield Cup for second time to then run second in the 1955 Melbourne Cup.

Poseidon won a second Caulfield Cup in 1907.

So, this year Littorio is this years favourite to win the Caulfield Cup after upstaging the disappointing Weekend Hussler (2nd Fav) in the Turnbull and is equal $6.50 fav with Efficient and Septimus in the Melbourne Cup.

Personally I am only really interested in this years Caulfield Cup to see Melbourne Cup form but will have a stab at some value taking Ice Chariot who has been running well and hitting the line as the distance goes up for three 3rd placings, currrently, $41 and I’ve been getting $200 on betfair for the Melbourne Cup ($41 on TAB) and the other one I’ll be watching is Mad Rush with Damien Oliver on board, very similar to last years Melbourne Cup 2nd place getter Purple Moon, again, bloody Efficient!

So, the big question, who is going to win?

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Hi All,

I’ve been away for the last few weeks on a break so sorry for the lack of updates! And what a huge week it was last weekend in the Turnbull with Weekend Hussler failing for the first time this campaign. The other big news of course was in the same race Tuesday Joy bleed and has been to out to retirement once it finishes the three month ban. Read more here

Videos from last weekends races below for your enjoyement.

Turnbull

Metropolitan

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