Melbourne Cup 2017: horses, form, fashion and latest tips – live!
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Race five! Nearly ready to roll, the horses piling into the gates for the 1000m sprint that has been a staple of this meet for as long as I’ve been alive. And a race that always reminds me of the great Schillaci. Property jumps as fav. Away!
Gay Alcorn has caught up with Thorpie. What a legend.
Gay Alcorn (@Gay_Alcorn)
Had a chat to Ian Thorpe – it’s his first Melbourne Cup, and he put a bet on Race 4. And he’s “hopeful” for SSM vote pic.twitter.com/DTcqt4udkY
Paris Jackson has entered the Birdcage. Gay Alcorn is corresponding from the track and advises me that Jackson is “supposedly the biggest international star here today.” I must admit, all I know (thanks, wiki) is that the daughter of the late Michael has a lot going on for a teenager, acting and modelling for the most part. Reads like she’s a pretty good citizen, too. Good luck to her.
Paris Jackson arrives to the Myer Marquee at the Birdcage during Melbourne Cup Day at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Tuesday, November 7, 2017. (AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy) NO ARCHIVING Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/AAP
Breaking: Joao Moreira out for the day. And in turn, out for the Melbourne Cup. That’s a big story. So they will need a last minute replacement for Thomas Hobson in the Cup. Speculation on the TV that with just 52kg, they are aren’t going to have many jockeys to choose from as the replacement.No further news Regal Monarch.
The fall. Encouraging news from the TV that the horse Regal Monarch has made it into the float on their own steam. Jockey Joao Moreira up and about as well. Inevitably, there’s a Cup connection: he has a ride on the big one on Thomas Hobson. Probably a lot more to come on this story.
Five horses were spread across the track at the clocktower, bringing on a grandstand finish. Fanatic came through the middle of the track to get the win, paying north of $20, with Sherlock Holmes and Swacadelic. But the real attention after the race is going to be how Regal Monarch (and ride Joao Moreira) after tumbling with 500m to go. Stand by.
Race four coming up. Ronald McDonald House Charities Cup, over 2800m. Sin to Win is into $4.40 and jumps as davourite. But, wait for it, Ubin Thunderstruck has taken the second most money today on the race. Strayaaaa.
Granddukeoftuscany is popular as well. More popular: not spacing out these names in the conventional way. Stormsabreweing placed in race two earlier, Who Shot Thebarman has been scratched in the Cup later on. Just pop a space in there, it’ll be alright. Okay, they’re in the barriers. And they are… racing.
Alex McClintock (@axmcc)
melbourne cup horses that sound like villains in a problematic disney movie: almandin, red cardinal, cismontane, tiberian, gallante
Just occurred to me. It’s 20 years since just about the best Melbourne Cup finish in my lifetime, Might and Power holding off the equally mighty Doriemus in a photo finish. This should get the blood pumping.
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“They hit the line… photo, oh!”
Celebrities. In keeping with the theme of my politicians post, you know you’ve made it as a celeb in this country in a couple of ways. One, you’re on Dancing with the Stars. Another, you’ve been asked for a Cup tip in the paper. Even former Hawthorn half-forward flanker Ben Dixon had his say in today’s Herald-Sun. It’s how it works.
Now, one of my cricket writing collegues from over at Cricinfo Brydon Coverdale wasn’t a celebrity. He writes bloody beautifully about the summer game, but that is that. We hardly get stopped on the street for writing about someone’s cover drive.
But then a couple of years ago he turned his penchant for dominating trivia nights into a gig as ‘The Shark’ on the game show The Chase. Now, he gets to do this in front of a couple of million TV viewers.
Dollar for Dollar! Tipping he would have been popular in the betting ring. Came correct with 100m to go out wide, overtaking Milwaukee who was on the rail.
Adelaide hoop Jamie Kah rode it home and is pumped. “This is incredible,” she says. “It’s like winning a Melbourne Cup for me. It does not get better than that.”
Race three. A race named after a cup of coffee. Sure. 1400m the journey with New Universe the market fancy with two-time Melbourne Cup winner Kerrin McEvoy on board. They’re away!
Politicians. Don’t underestimate how seriously our national leaders take picking the Melbourne Cup winner. In 2007, a significant story during the election campaign was Rudd’s collect when picking Efficient. I told in some depth last year on this day how my selection for him in 2009 led me to briefly believe that he was going to sack me.
Once again Malcolm Turnbull has backed in Bondi Beach, for it is in his electorate. And Bill Shorten has followed suit on Boom Time. I want a leader, one day, to go against omen bets and pick the nag it thinks will earn them some cold hard cash. One day.
Bill Shorten (@billshortenmp)
For what it’s worth, I’ll be backing Maribrynong local, Boom Time 💥🕒 to take home the #MelbourneCup today
Federal opposition leader Bill Shorten and his wife Chloe Shorten arrive at Flemington. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/AAP
Mocca’s rules.
Let’s take a quick peek at the Cup for the first time this morning, shall we? It may be over three hours away, but it is a storyline-rich environment.
To begin, I want to share with you some rules laid out by my old mate Mark O’Connor (a Guardian writer on one occasion, come to think of it) who has successfully never picked a winner despite briefly punting for a living.
Even so, I enjoy his formula as we start to narrow our way towards a final selection. It’s nice to have a formula – like Omar in The Wire, or Dexter in Dexter. Anyway, here goes:
Tahanee takes race two! Got the inside run and didn’t let it go from the clocktower on. Craig Williams the jockey, the champion on Wall of Fire in the Cup later on so he’ll be happy with that to start his day. Invincibella had ample work to do coming from third last, but romped home to grab second. Stormsabrewing rounded out the places. “Invicibella absolutely flopped out of the barrier,” Bruce McAvaney says on the telly.
Craig Williams rides Tahanee to win race two, the TAB.com.au Trophy. Photograph: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images
Before we deep dive on what comes later. Let’s deal with race two. They’ll be going 1700m and it is mares only. Have that, fellas. Invincibella the fav with Hugh Bowman on board, the man who has a huge job on the Melbourne Cup short-priced Marmelo later on. And they’re… racing.
We like to play up these days on the sporting calendar, but whether you like it or not, the footptint the Melbourne Cup leaves is undeniable. By any measure, it is big bikkies.
Be it the 100,000 or more punters at the track. The 750 million people forecast to watch the race around the globe, five million of those in our country alone. The $6.2 million prizemoney. The fact that this has been going strong for 157 years. Massive, the lot of it.
So then, welcome to Guardian Austalia’s coverage of the two-mile classic. Of course, ten races are on the card at Flemington today, but it is when they jump at 3pm local time that we’ll be transfixed. Between now and then, we’re all constitutionally bound to show our expertise and pick a winner. We’ll do plenty of that, and ample nonsense too.
Helping along the way is Kate O’Halloran at the track, who I’ll take regular updates from. But of course, this will work best if we chat throughout. In the usual way, catch me in the usual way on email, or fire me your hottest takes (read, best bets) on twitter. Let’s have a bit of fun. I look forward to your company.
Adam will be here shortly. In the meantime, have a read of Michael Hutak’s race preview:
Gay Alcorn
