Melbourne Cup 2008
 

- EMIRATES MELBOURNE CUP (3200 METRES)
Of $5500000 and $150000 trophies. 1st $3300000 and trophies of $125000 to owner $10000 to trainer $10000 to jockey $5000 to strapper, 2nd $835000, 3rd $420000, 4th $220000, 5th $150000, 6th $115000, 7th $115000, 8th $115000, 9th $115000, 10th $115000.
(GROUP 1).
No Allowances for apprentices. Field Limit: 24
No Horse Trainer Ballot Weight Penalty Handicapper
Rating
1 SEPTIMUS (IRE) Aidan O'Brien 1 58.5 1
2 EFFICIENT (NZ) John Sadler 2 58 1.5
3 MASTER O'REILLY (NZ) Danny O'Brien 3 55 4.5
4 ALL THE GOOD (IRE) Saeed Bin Suroor 10 55 2.0 4.5
5 HONOLULU (IRE) Aidan O'Brien 8 54.5 1.0 5
6 C'EST LA GUERRE (NZ) John Sadler 4 54 4
7 NOM DU JEU (NZ) Murray Baker 5 54 4
8 YELLOWSTONE (IRE) Jane Chapple-Hyam 6 54 5.5
9 ZIPPING John Sadler 7 54 5.5
10 MAD RUSH (USA) Luca Cumani 9 53.5 6
11 ICE CHARIOT Ron Maund 11 53 6.5
12 VIEWED Bart Cummings 12 53 6.5
13 LITTORIO Nigel Blackiston 13 52.5 5.5
14 RED RULER (NZ) John Sargent 14 52.5 5.5
15 BOUNDLESS (NZ) Stephen Mckee 15 52 4.5
16 GUYNO (NZ) Lou Luciani 16 52 7.5
17 ZARITA (NZ) Pat Hyland 17 52 4.5
18 BAUER (IRE) Luca Cumani 22 52 1.0 7.5
19 GALLOPIN (NZ) Danny O'Brien 23 52 1.0 8.5
20 PROFOUND BEAUTY (IRE) Dermot K Weld 18 51.5 6.5
21 RED LORD Anthony Cummings 19 51.5 8
22 RIVA SAN Peter G Moody 20 51.5 5
23 VAREVEES (GB) Richard Gibson 21 51.5 6.5
24 NEWPORT Paul Perry 38 51.5 1.5 8
25 PRIZE LADY (NZ) Graeme Sanders 24 51 7
26 BAUGHURST Bill Wilde 27 51 0.5 8.5
27 ALESSANDRO VOLTA (GB) Aidan O'Brien 25 50.5 5
28 BARBARICUS Danny O'Brien 26 50.5 7.5
29 ZAGREB David Hayes 28 50.5 7.5
30 BOOK OF KELLS Bart Cummings 29 50 9
31 CAPECOVER (NZ) Alexander Fieldes 30 50 9.5
32 CHIEFCOMINGFIRST (NZ) Bevan Laming 31 50 9.5
33 DANDAAD (NZ) Bart Cummings 32 50 9.5
34 GET UP JUDE Diane Poidevin-Laine 33 50 9.5
35 GLISTENING (GB) Michael Moroney 34 50 9.5
36 LARGO LAD David Hayes 35 50 9.5
37 MAGIC INSTINCT (GB) Peter G Moody 36 50 9.5
38 MOATIZE Bart Cummings 37 50 8.5
39 SADDLER'S STORY Robbie Laing 39 50 9.5

So, is Aidan O'Brien going to use his other two horse to set the pace up for
SEPTIMUS ? Well he knows that putting in horses as 'pacemakers' is illegal here but ... [?]

If it doesnt go against there normal race pattern of racing they really cant do a thing about it.
Loyd used Extend in the Turnball the same way.

I think alot depends on the track this year, I'm guessing the hose will be out and it will be a dead track at the very least. Heard theres supposed to be alot of rain around that might make it a slow or heavy.

Septimus does look a tough nut to crack but i'm really not sure he has the tactical speed ,,,he looks a one paced sort of a horse. If the plan is to lead or close to it at solid tempo with his stablemates running it along with him he might just ground them into the dirt..

Mad Rush in CC looked good but is this years Cup as good a form pointer to the MC as usual ? The blanket finish is a bit of a worry as is the slowish time.
Considering they ran along solidly and Barbaricus 3rd ??

All the Good will improve from the run atleast.

Nom Du Jue was good in the same race as was Viewed from the back.

I really liked Ce'st La Guerre's run in the Cox and he looks a though the distance will really suit. So will a rain affected track.

I havent much of an idea this year ,, But these are the 5 that are on the short list.

If there's a bit of rain about I'll be all over C'EST LA GUERRE, Also hearing alot of good things about PROFOUND BEAUTY Septimus is giving it 7kgs,

really not sure as of yet, all i know is that master o'reilly, efficient, and littorio won't win

If that rain arrives look out for the "plums"

It'll be worth looking at Littorio this Saturday if it can run on strongly. Before the Caulfield Cup 5th it was the hype horse after winning the Turnbull so well. Back to Flemington will suit.

Efficient is out now.

I agree schonegg littorio back at Flemington will suit to a tee. I think Nom Du Jeu is the one to beat though in the Cup

Any reason why Gallopin cannot win? I cant see the reason except that he hasnt win above 2500m.

I like NOM DU JEU and Red Ruler. I think Red Ruler ran a good race in the CC do did NDJ.

Matilda regarding Red Ruler and I doubt I am the only one with this concern with him over 2 miles I really have concerns that he can really run out the trip.

I have had something on Nom Du Jeu already he was a great run in the Caulfield Cup I am somewhat surprised that the 1st 2 over the line have been sitting around the $13 mark for the best part of the last couple of weeks.

I'll have a bit more of a look at this race after the field has been announced and the barriers have been drawn by that time I should have been able to sit down and look at some form for the euros

Looks like All The Good will be out now too.

Does anyone believe that "team- riding" may be prominent in this year's Cup. One of the overseas trainers alluded to this when he stated that all of his stable representatives will be "hunted up" in search of prominent positions.
We'll just have to see what unfolds and what action, if any, is taken by the officials if such tactics are employed.

Cheers.

Have no problem with it personally as long as it doesn't go against the horse/s in question natural style.

I couldn't care less to be honest if they go out and make it a true staying test atleast then the best stayer wins the race unlike what happens most weekends in races here where they walk for the 1st half of races and sprint home. Look no further than the Cox Plate last week that was criminal.

The only Thing I would be against is if they are taking out other horses intentionally in running then ofcourse there is an issue

Is All The Good in or out?

No decision yet we will know by tomorrow night i would say

well from what i'm aware, Septimus doesnt have great speed or a turn of foot, but has incredible stamina. so if the race is run at a good clip he's a big chance.

still not going to have my money though

If they decide to run him, the fact that he has been injured reduces his chances somewhat.

posts7 & 10,
I think you're are on the right track fellahs.
All the best to you....!

Cheers.

Watched the vids of the last couple of MC's ,,,Zipping did ok to run 4th as he was close to the lead both times,,,ridden with cover he might be the best of the Aussies ,,,seems to be a better horse this time in aswell..

If it rains Cest Le Guerre would be the one i'd be interested in ..

Mad Rush and Nom Du Juer still in the mix,,

Barrier Draw
 

7-03.00 EMIRATES MELBOURNE CUP (3200 METRES)
Of $5500000 and $150000 trophies. 1st $3300000 and trophies of $125000 to owner $10000 to trainer $10000 to jockey $5000 to strapper, 2nd $835000, 3rd $420000, 4th $220000, 5th $150000, 6th $115000, 7th $115000, 8th $115000, 9th $115000, 10th $115000.
(GROUP 1).
No Allowances for apprentices. Field Limit: 24
No Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight Penalty Handicapper
Rating
1 SEPTIMUS (IRE) Aidan O'Brien Johnny Murtagh 10 58.5 122
2 MASTER O'REILLY (NZ) Danny O'Brien Vlad Duric 6 55 114
3 HONOLULU (IRE) Aidan O'Brien Colm O'Donoghue 24 54.5 1.0 115
4 C'EST LA GUERRE (NZ) John Sadler Brett Prebble 5 54 108
5 NOM DU JEU (NZ) Murray Baker Jeff Lloyd 1 54 112
6 YELLOWSTONE (IRE) Jane Chapple-Hyam John F Egan 12 54 110
7 ZIPPING John Sadler Danny Nikolic 16 54 115
8 MAD RUSH (USA) Luca Cumani Damien Oliver 4 53.5 112
9 ICE CHARIOT Ron Maund Michael Rodd 22 53 109
10 VIEWED Bart Cummings Blake Shinn 9 53 107
11 LITTORIO Nigel Blackiston Steven King 17 52.5 112
12 BAUER (IRE) Luca Cumani Corey Brown 13 52 1.0 106
13 BOUNDLESS (NZ) Stephen Mckee Greg Childs 20 52 106
14 GALLOPIN (NZ) Danny O'Brien James Winks 21 52 1.0 107
15 GUYNO (NZ) Lou Luciani Craig Newitt 8 52 101
16 ZARITA (NZ) Pat Hyland Dwayne Dunn 7 52 110
17 NEWPORT Paul Perry Chris Symons 15 51.5 1.5 105
18 PROFOUND BEAUTY (IRE) Dermot K Weld Glen Boss 2 51.5 108
19 RED LORD Anthony Cummings Nicholas Hall (a) 14 51.5 104
20 VAREVEES (GB) Richard Gibson Craig Williams 23 51.5 105
21 PRIZE LADY (NZ) Graeme Sanders Mark Sweeney 18 51 104
22 ALESSANDRO VOLTA (GB) Aidan O'Brien Wayne Lordan 11 50.5 115
23 BARBARICUS Danny O'Brien Stephen Baster 3 50.5 104
24 MOATIZE Bart Cummings Clare Lindop 19 50 100

Not really sure the barrier draw matters all that much,,but Profound Beauty , Cest La Guerre , Mad rush drawn nicely..

post22,
maverick1993...you could be on the right track there...plus...Septimus. We'll just have to see what happens on the day.
Haveagoodun.

thanks Xanadu but let me clairfy Zippings run last year,,,
he did race back in the field with cover,,seemed to resent the slowing of the race half way around,,he then took off probably 100m to early and gave himself a big task of rounding them up..
Rodd had the patience and peeled around him to surge past to win,,i think they might have bumped when he went past or it could have been a reminder of who the stable money was on ;)

Zipping kept finding the line though and hes the best of the Aussies now..

Had a quick look this morn'
Came up with a $210:eek: Tri

1st-1,5,7,8,18
2nd-1,4,5,7,8,11,14,18
3rd-1,4,5,7,8,11,14,18

This will be $42 for 20% if I decide to make a brief reappearance from retirement
Cheers

What do you fellas think of Prize Lady? She's won the 3200m Aukland Cup twice. No good on a dry track, but if it's slow on Tuesday I reckon she's a very real chance. I just can't work out the $150 odds, maybe I'm missing something?

Auckland Cup generally isn't a strong form guide to the Cup. I think Bazelle won it in 2005 (I backed it in the cup e/w) and it barely beat a horse home.

Think you should include No. 23 Barbaricus ahead of Gallopin and Littorio. Just personal opinion though.

Load up on Zipping for the place. Does it very consistently!

yeah 4th place like the last 2 years

He's on the improve after the Cox. Should get a 3rd. in the Cup this year!

yeah thanks MD but i reckon he's stuffed from the front running in the mackinnon
so am prepared to risk
Of course i'll be waiting for the big punters on the forum to throw in their 2c
You know sportz,mav and ol vomits
Cheers

Well my misses says 2,4,7 and like all once a year punters who just picks numbers they are your tri because she is as assy as they come.

thanks mate :D

Just had a look and i reckon there's 3 winning chances - Septimus, Nom Du Jeu, and Mad Rush. i'm not keen on septimus but you just have to throw him in there with his credentials. I just can't split NDJ and MR, both put in great cup trials in the caulfield cup, i've backed MR at $13.50 so got some value there.

Of the others i've left out, i don't think MOR can stay the distance, and may struggle with this year's weight. I can't have Zipping, as Raw said about the cox, no doubt it will flash home for an eye catching fifth AGAIN. Don't think Littorio will stay, and is a non-winner anyway. I've heard Bauer's ordinary compared it its stablemate, so i'm ruling the geelong cup out as a guide.

I'll take the following tri

Septimus / Nom Du Jeu / Mad Rush

Septimus / Nom Du Jeu / Mad Rush / C'est La Guerre / Profound Beauty / Prize Lady / Barbaricus / Moatize

Septimus / Nom Du Jeu / Mad Rush / C'est La Guerre / Profound Beauty / Prize Lady / Barbaricus / Moatize


i've never like moatize, but it knows how to run a place. c'est la guerre has been set for this, and its close to a winning chance but i'm not sure its quite classy enough. barbaricus' last couple of runs have been great, not sure if it will stay but if it gets it own way (unliekly) it could last a while. i've thrown in prize lady purely because it can run a strong two miles, something not many of these can do

i reckon you have more chance of getting the tri with a mystery pick lol.

Its such an open race, like every year i guess. Wouldnt be surprised if anyone of half the field won.

I'll go for the top 2 for the win and include the rest for a Tri.
1. Nom Du Jeu
2. Septimus
3. Mad Rush
4. Honolulu
5. C'est La Guerre

Just been watching the Caulfield cup replays,,,i just cant believe Barbaricus hung on for 3rd..
I'm still suss on the form in this race ..he was in the carpark the 1st few turns and ran it solidly and still held them off down the straight,,

I know Barbaricus ran well Saturday,,but he did get beaten by Theseo ,,now if you were to go back a couple of months a say theseo and Barabaricus would fight out the McKinnon you'd would have been laughed off the forum..

So in the Caulfield Cup the backmarkers were entitled to run home,,,,Nom De Juer was good but she had a good run at them,,Mad Rush took the wrong option and he was going past some really slow horses at the end that made his run look even better but he know doubt should have gone close to beating them all in this race and if he had Noms run i think would have won comfortably......Littorio was average and Master O's run was ok ..

The form out of the Geelong Cup hasnt impressed me,,,Bauer atleast did it easily but dont forget he needed the win to qualify so is there much improvement ?? (in the same race Magic Instinct was alittle unlucky)

So i'm looking alittle outside these cups ,,Cest La Guerre was excellent his last start and just looks well improved a stack since being with Williams and Zipping is going better than last year...
The only probs with these two is i think the MC is an after thought,,Cest La Guerre was a next year horse but has just come along nicely and Zipping was a Cox plate horse or if he was going ordinary a MV Cup horse. Cest La Guerre was awsome in his Derby win leaving poor Nomy standing still ..Zipping has had excuses his last 2 Melbourne cup trys,,

Profound Beauty is something to watch,,hard to gauge her form but her track work is wow and the way she looks its hard not to like her,,Weld has bought a horse here that doesnt mind the firmer surface,,notice he isnt in the media whinging about watering the track blah blah and shes got no weight and a jockey that has good timing in this race ..

Ice Chariot's run in mckinnon was the good from the back,,,hes a place chance though at best as hes limited class wise.

Septimus looks dour to me but the stablemates will take off just as the tempo evens around the half way mark,,and Septimus will follow them and be carted into the race...not sure if the plan will work in such a big field but they'll ride the race together no matter what you hear the trainer say..
If it rains and the race becomes a slog fest then even with this weight he'll just grind them into the ground...Murtagh is a strong jock and he throws everything at the horse,,looks ungainly at times but theres no doubting he knows what it takes and if it becomes a fight then i want to be on the pom..

So it looks like i'm leaning towards the Williams pair , Profound Beauty and Mad Rush and Septimus,,
thats 5 on top lol
then the freak horse Barbaricus who doesnt know who his dad is to jag a place..with Honolulu (nice looking horse) and Yellowstone (why not) and Ice chariot and Bauer in for the 1st 4's,,

Chuck in your favourite colour and your favourite number and your 1st borns birthday and you might just jag an exotic :)

From you know who about Barbaricus [good for a laugh]:


'A Class 3 chaff bandit from the O’Brien yard, so positive comments are forbidden. His only win in the last 15 months was when he beat Davcon in a photo at Moonee Valley on 28/9/07. Unfortunately he ran a place in the 2008 Caulfield Cup at 100-1 and that put most battlers’ trifectas and First 4s out of play. He ran another good race last Saturday, but in my mind he’ll always be a “chaff bandit”. I obviously missed the two important gear changes of “heart and double lung transplant on” and “oxygen mask on” - before his latest two runs. Fair dinkum – Barbaricus. I thought I’d been “called home” when he ran a place in a Caulfield Cup and God was cracking a joke, as he knew I enjoyed a giggle. “Follow the light” he said – so I did - and it led me straight to the lunatic asylum' Barbaricus.