Not going to spend to much time on the Cox Plate that was basically given to Maldivian on say, a silver platter. Seemed to me everyone was to busy worrying about what Princess Coup and Samantha Miss etc were going to do and forgot all about what Maldivian WAS doing up front. By the time they realised it was all to late. Well done to Danny Nikolic on Zipping who finally wised up at the 1000m mark and started to go.

Cox Plate Replay

The Moonee Valley Cup, run and won by Gallopin and moves into 23rd on the Order of Entry for the Melbourne Cup and now a certain starter. The news not so good for Bauer who remains outside of the top 24 after 3rd acceptances today at 25th spot so would be looking for a few scratchings to move him into the field, the likes of Red Ruler may come out, he is currently under a fitness cloud.

The Saab Quality is full of horses are nominated for the Cup and all can leapfrog Bauer and make the Melbourne Cup field as the winner of the Saab Quality is exempt from the Melbourne Cup ballot.

Horses such as Baughurst, Book of Kells, Chiefcomingfirst, Dandaad, Largo Lad, Magic Instinct, Moatize, Get Up Jude and Newport are all nominated for the Saab Quality and are still in the Melbourne Cup picture

For any that had their hard earned on Dolphion Jo who was on track for his 3rd straight Melbourne Cup run, has a slight tear to his near fore suspensory ligament and was ruled out Friday.

Moonee Valley Cup Replay

The Melbourne Cup Order of Entry
MELBOURNE CUP THIRD DECLARATIONS

ORDER OF ENTRY

EXEMPT FROM BALLOT

1 SEPTIMUS (Aidan O’Brien) 58.5

2 ALL THE GOOD (Saeed bin Suroor) 55.0

3 HONOLULU (Aidan O’Brien) 54.5

FULLY QUALIFIED

4 EFFICIENT (John Sadler) 58.0

5 NOM DU JEU (Murray Baker) 54.0

6 C’EST LA GUERRE (John Sadler) 54.0

7 MASTER O’REILLY (Danny O’Brien) 55.0

8 ZARITA (Pat Hyland) 52.0

9 BOUNDLESS (Stephen McKee) 52.0

10 RIVA SAN (Peter Moody) 51.5

11 ALESSANDRO VOLTA (Aidan O’Brien) 50.5

12 ZIPPING (John Sadler) 54.0

13 LITTORIO (Nigel Blackiston) 52.5

14 RED RULER (John Sargent) 52.5

15 YELLOWSTONE (Jane Chapple-Hyam) 54.0

16 MAD RUSH (Luca Cumani) 53.5

17 ICE CHARIOT (Ron Maund) 53.0

18 VIEWED (Bart Cummings) 53.0

19 VAREVEES (Richard Gibson) 51.5

20 PROFOUND BEAUTY (Dermot Weld) 51.5

21 PRIZE LADY (Graeme Sanders) 51.0

22 GUYNO (Lou Luciani) 52.0

23 GALLOPIN (Danny O’Brien) 52.0

24 BARBARICUS (Danny O’Brien) 50.5

25 BAUER (Luca Cumani) 52.0

26 ZAGREB (David Hayes) 50.5

27 NEWPORT (Paul Perry) 51.5

28 RED LORD (Anthony Cummings) 51.5

29 BAUGHURST (Bill Wilde) 51.0

30 MOATIZE (Bart Cummings) 50.0

31 GLISTENING (Michael Moroney) 50.0

32 GET UP JUDE (Diane Poidevin-Laine) 50.0

33 CAPECOVER (Alexander Fieldes) 50.0

34 SADDLER’S STORY (Robbie Laing) 50.0

35 MAGIC INSTINCT (Peter Moody) 50.0

NOT QUALIFIED

36 BOOK OF KELLS (Bart Cummings) 50.0

37 LARGO LAD (David Hayes) 50.0

38 CHIEFCOMINGFIRST (Bevan Laming) 50.0

39 DANDAAD (Bart Cummings) 50.0

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

Here we go! We are not only 4 weeks away to the Melboure Cup for 2008 and there is a massive days racing ahead of us tomorrow (or today as this is a late post) for the 4th October 2008.

The Turnbull Stakes at Flemington has an opportunity to over-shadow the main even in Sydney from a Melbourne Cup perspecitive, with last years Melbourne Cup winner Efficient taking on other Melbounre Cup hopefuls including, Zipping, Pompeii Ruller, Weekend Hussler (if we all at the same time wish it as a Christmas present), Master O’Rielly, Maldivian, Tuesday Joy and Zaritia. Weekend Hussler by far the favouriate here in this race, but pfft, for the Melbourne Cup who cares really, he won’t win or race.

Just as a note last years winner of the Turnbull was Devil Moon, who went on to claim 5th in the Cox Plate. In the Turnbull last year I am sure that you will note that it beat Melbourne Cup runners, Douro Valley, Zipping, Bluetigeroo, Efficient (who finished 11th! Last out of the Melb Cup runners in the Turnbull, sorry still so bitter) So…what does this mean for the Melbourne Cup? Nothing really, over the last 5 years I have not even used it as a guage for the Cup, so I guess just enjoy the race, but note that a lot of Cup runners are paticipating and one may just catch our eye. And ok, so the last horse to win the Turnbull and Melbourne Cup double was not that long ago in Makybe Diva…but before that you need to go back to 1991 with Let’s Elope. Doriemus was close but won the Melbourne Cup in 1995 and the Turnbull in the following year 1996. So not a lot of joy for Turnbull to Melbourne Cup winners. But if something is a superstar, lets say Tuesday Joy, the ride Beadman is coming back for, trounces Weekend Hussler, I’d be taking note!

Otherwise the main race to be watching is the Metropolitian in Sydney now not a lot to really report here, it was not run last year to the obvious EI reasons and the year before a horse called *cough* Tawqeet was the winner and we all know how his campaigned finished that year. Never-the-less, it will be interesting to see how Fiumicino goes, he has been performing well and getting a lot of miles in th legs for the Cup.

For myself however the horse to watch at the moment will br race #4 Number #1 Ice Chariot, the 2006 QLD Derby winner who I think is flying uner the radar this year and will surprise a lot of people come 4th November….

Otherwise tomorrow, there is a little horse called Samantha Miss running in the Flight Stakes…goes ok…

Check back here tomorrow for race replay’s I will be on it ASAP tomorrow…

Cheers
www.themelbournecupguide.com

Well, there is no other way to say this but I am stunned.  Apparently a Melbourne Cup win is all you need to win Stayer of the year, see this article.  While the article is about Weekend Hussler winning Horse of the Year, and rightly so, scroll down to the 2nd last line and you will see last years Melbourne Cup Winner Efficient as Stayer of the Year.  What the F%6K!  The bloody thing runs four times with nothing before the Melbourne Cup and comes in as the best stayer in the country?

Lets review these results:

G2 – Memsie Stakes 1400m came 10th from 13 and beaten by 7 lengths

G2 – Dato’ Tan Chin Nam Stakes 1600m came 4th from 11 and beaten 2.5 lengths (I’ll give this)

G1 – Turnbull Stakes 2000m came 11th from 15 and beaten by 9 lengths

G1 – Cox Plate 2040m came 9th from 13 and beaten by 6.5 lengths

Before these races and a 5 month spell only ran two other times in 2007 for a 5th and a 4th in a G3 and G1, so won one race from 7.  Now ok the one was the Melbourne Cup, but come on this is hardly the thing of staying power we are used to.  Does anyone recall Makybe Diva already, have we sunk so low that such mediocre performances rate?  If they do let me know and I will go back to my high school teachers, ask for my grades to be changed AND should have been Dux!

G1- Melbourne Cup 3200m came 1st from 21 and I am still stunned!

Efficient has been allotted 58kgs for the 2008 Melbourne Cup so at least there should not be a repeat for the 2008/2009 season. To follow on my stunned(ness) (see I should have been dux!) Efficient is still the $8 favouriate for the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday 4th November on the NSW TAB.

The great news is that we’ll all get an early look at Efficient when he steps out in the G2 Makybe Diva Stakes this Saturday 6th September. Lloyd Williams has also indicated that he’ll run in the Turnbull again this year and maybe the Cox plate if he needs it. Interestingly Zipping may also start in the Makybe, he came 4th in last years cup and only had two runs since with a 1st in the Sandown classic 17th November 2007 and a 9th in the Newmarket 9th March.

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This weeks Group 3 McEwen Stakes over 1000 metres is offering more big names that will step out for the start of their spring campaigns.  The most notable of these was last years surprising Melboune Cup winner Efficient and the superstar sprinter Miss Andretti.

The McEwen offers a mix of both sprinters and stayers, outside of Miss Andretti and Efficient we have 2006 Melbourne Cup place getter, Maybe Better resuming and the 2007 Jayco Sprint winner Sharkbite also starts his spring campaign.  Finally of note we have the 2006 Moone Valley Cup winner and multiple Melbourne Cup runner Zipping taking part in the McEwen.

It is great to see after the JJ Liston on the weekend more big names of Australian racing starting to resume.  It really is this time of year that we build in the anticipation for the first Tuesday in November.

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