No, I’m not talking about the US Presidential election on the same day, I’m talking about the first Tuesday in November at Flemington, the Melbourne Cup – Australia’s and one of the world’s premier and most celebrated thoroughbred horse races.
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Australia literally stands still for the three and a half minutes of the race and Tuesday will be no different. I’ve been studying the form guide and am about to log onto the TAB website to commence the process of losing my money placing my bets.
This website contains a thorough statistical report on all aspects of Australian horse racing and contains a detailed form guide for the big race. Below’s the field for the big race, including info on the barriers, jockeys, weights and trainers.
Emirates Melbourne Cup day - Tuesday, 4 November 2008
| race | time | value | g/l | race name | type | distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 3.00 | $5,650,000 | gr. 1 | emirates melbourne cup | hcp (n/c) | 3200m |
| TAB | horse | trainer | jockey | weight | barrier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Septimus(IRE) | Aidan O’Brien | J Murtagh | 58.5 | 10 |
| 2 | Master O’Reilly(NZ) | Danny O’Brien | V Duric | 55 | 6 |
| 3 | Honolulu(IRE) | Aidan O’Brien | Colm O’Donoghue | 54.5 | 24 |
| 4 | C’est La Guerre(NZ) | John Sadler | B Prebble | 54 | 5 |
| 5 | Nom du Jeu(NZ) | Murray Baker | J Lloyd | 54 | 1 |
| 6 | Yellowstone(IRE) | Jane Chapple-Hyam | J Egan | 54 | 12 |
| 7 | Zipping | John Sadler | D Nikolic | 54 | 16 |
| 8 | Mad Rush(USA) | Luca Cumani | D Oliver | 53.5 | 4 |
| 9 | Ice Chariot | Ron Maund | M Rodd | 53 | 22 |
| 10 | Viewed | Bart Cummings | B Shinn | 53 | 9 |
| 11 | Littorio | Nigel Blackiston | Steven King | 52.5 | 17 |
| 12 | Bauer(IRE) | Luca Cumani | C Brown | 52 | 13 |
| 13 | Boundless(NZ) | Stephen Mckee | G Childs | 52 | 20 |
| 14 | Gallopin(NZ) | Danny O’Brien | J M Winks | 52 | 21 |
| 15 | Guyno(NZ) | Lou Luciani | C Newitt | 52 | 8 |
| 16 | Zarita(NZ) | Pat Hyland | D Dunn | 52 | 7 |
| 17 | Newport | Paul Perry | C D Symons | 51.5 | 15 |
| 18 | Profound Beauty(IRE) | Dermot K Weld | G Boss | 51.5 | 2 |
| 19 | Red Lord | Anthony Cummings | N Hall | 51.5 | 14 |
| 20 | Varevees(GB) | Richard Gibson | C Williams | 51.5 | 23 |
| 21 | Prize Lady(NZ) | Graeme Sanders | M C Sweeney | 51 | 18 |
| 22 | Alessandro Volta(GB) | Aidan O’Brien | W M Lordan | 50.5 | 11 |
| 23 | Barbaricus | Danny O’Brien | S Baster | 50.5 | 3 |
| 24 | Moatize | Bart Cummings | C Lindop | 50 | 19 |
My tips: Septimus to win ahead of Profound Beauty, Gallopin and Mad Rush. You can bet your house on it!
Suffice to say, I pretty much lost everything I bet on. Oh well, there’s always next year …