Melbourne Cup – stops the nation
The final field has been declared and the barrier draw conducted for Australia’s most famous race, the $6 million Gr1 Melbourne Cup to be run over 3200m at Flemington tomorrow.
The race is off at 06h20 (SA time) and will be broadcast live on Tellytrack (Dstv 239) from 05h30.
Advance betting opens today, while telephone betting and online betting will be available from 05h30 Tuesday November 1.
While there are no local pools, TAB are offering commingled bets for Win, Place, Exacta and Double pools.
The Godolphin team have the top two in the betting with Cox Plate runner-up Hartnell currently favourite ahead of Oceanographer. Both horses have drawn midfield in barriers 12 and 11 respectively.
Brilliant Caulfield Cup winner Jameka represents good value and has drawn favourably in barrier 3, while the only other horse under double-figure odds is the Aidan O’Brien-trained Bondi Beach.
Jamie Spencer and Big Orange in action
South African racing fans may want to get behind Drakenstein stallion Duke Of Marmalade’s good son, Big Orange, who carries joint top weight and will be ridden by Jamie Spencer.
The capacity 24-horse field is:
1. BIG ORANGE (Michael Bell-Jamie Spencer) 57kg (7)
2. OUR IVANHOWE (Lee & Anthony Freedman-Dwayne Dunn) 57kg (6)
3. CURREN MIROTIC (Osamu Hirata-Tommy Berry) 56.5kg (18)
4. BONDI BEACH (Aidan O’Brien-Ryan Moore) 56kg (5)
5. EXOSPHERIC (Lee & Anthony Freedman-D Oliver) 56kg (13)
6. HARTNELL (John O’Shea-James McDonald) 56kg (12)
7. WHO SHOT THEBARMAN (Chris Waller-Hugh Bowman) 56kg (20)
8. WICKLOW BRAVE (William Mullins-Frankie Dettori) 56kg (24)
9. ALMOONQITH (David & B Hayes & T Dabernig-M Walker) 54.5kg (19)
10. GALLANTE (Robert Hickmott-Blake Shinn) 54.5kg (2)
11. GRAND MARSHAL (Chris Waller-Ben Melham) 54.5kg (9)
12. JAMEKA (Ciaron Maher-Nicholas Hall) 54.5kg (3)
13. HEARTBREAK CITY (Tony Martin-Joao Moreira) 54kg (23)
14. SIR JOHN HAWKWOOD (John P Thompson-Blake Spriggs) 54kg (14)
15. EXCESS KNOWLEDGE (G Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-Vlad Duric) 53.5kg (21)
16. BEAUTIFUL ROMANCE (Saeed Bin Suroor-Damian Lane) 52.5kg (1)
17. ALMANDIN (Robert Hickmott-Kerrin McEvoy) 52kg (17)
18. ASSIGN (Robert Hickmott-Katelyn Mallyon) 52kg (22)
19. GREY LION (Matt Cumani-Glen Boss) 52kg (16)
20. OCEANOGRAPHER (Charlie Appleby-Chad Schofield) 52kg (11)
21. SECRET NUMBER (Saeed Bin Suroor-Stephen Baster) 52kg (10)
22. PENTATHLON (John Wheeler-Mark Du Plessis) 51.5kg (4)
23. QEWY (Charlie Appleby-Craig Williams) 51.5kg (15)
24. ROSE OF VIRGINIA (Lee & Shannon Hope-Ben Thompson) 51kg (8)
