Changing of the Guard is out after official vet inspection this morning [slightly lame]. According to a witness, Hayes was spitting chips and had a big argument with the vet, waving his arms around and insisting the horse was fine to run! Talk about drama.

They really have to do something about having a couple of emergencies for the cup because a horse is missing out here as only 23 will run now.

Not keen on VIEWED's short odds due to the 5kg weight rise from last years cup which gives Master O'rielly a big weight advantage from last year's 2nd. Considering the amount of poor horses in the cup, Viewed might still win with the weight, but is way unders all things considered. I think one of Bart's other horses, ROMAN EMPEROR has a better show if he can genuinely stay the distance and might be Bart's real hope that he's being fairly quiet about!

Not keen on ALCOPOP's short odds either! Certainly has the turn of foot but has never been past 2400m and it's been 24 days since his last start [hardly an ideal cup prep.]. Apart from the G2 Herbert Power win last start, he was a C3 horse 4 starts ago and has only had 10 starts. Next year after a bit more experience might be his go.

I'll go for a bit on LIKE A DING and MASTER O'REILLY to win and throw in Viewed, Alcopops, Newport, Roman Emperor and Shocking for a couple of exotics. Last time I won on this race was with Rain Lover [got the tri. too], but I've been hopeless tipping the cup since then, so be wary of my selections!

Hope everyone has a cracker of a day !!!