Stradivarius has kept his winning run going in the Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup Stakes (3270m Group 2). A small field of 4 went around including Dee Ex Bee and Falcon Eight, who were among those at the top of Melbourne Cup futures ($26 and $31 respectively). Both runners have since been ruled out of The Cup after having bled following this race. Falcon Eight was left well adrift of the first three, who were all within 1.5L at the finish: though Stradivarius always looked comfortable as he defended his title from last year. Max Dynamite won this race in 2015 ahead of his 2nd placing in The Cup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TFKXvv2WHE

Also at York was the Sky Bet Great Voltigeur Stakes (2400m Group 2). None of the starters are currently in Melbourne Cup betting, though that may change tomorrow when the first Entry List is to be published. Logician and Constantinople cleared well out from the rest of the small field: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIZTohwNA-M. Logician is the favourite for the St Leger. It would be nice to see Constantinople here but his trainer Aidan O'Brien said: "We were very happy with Constantinople and we'll see how he comes out of it. He's a big cruiser and still a little bit weak and he'll be a better horse next year. Norway ran well and is another in the [St Leger] mix."

Enable destroyed the competition in the Yorkshire Oaks but there's no chance that we'd see her here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0AfBuaq8H0. Off to the Arc to try and be the first three-time winner.

The Ebor was the York race of most interest for Cup followers, with the handicap taken out by Australian Bloodstock-owned Mustajeer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEHQDVUEIrg. He's now an equal Melbourne Cup favourite with Cross Counter, Marmelo and Torcedor ($17 with Ladbrokes). Rounding out the top 3 - and also notching a qualifying run for the Cup - were Red Galileo (0.75L) and Desert Skyline (1.25L). Raheen House was the favourite but finish well back in 9th. One spot ahead was Prince of Arran, 3rd in last year's Melbourne Cup, but unloved here at $34. Max Dynamite, Withhold, Wells Farhh Go, King's Advice and Weekender were some names that had been bandied about but all fell well down the order. Race time was actually the 3rd fastest since 1986: 0.5s faster than Muntahaa last year and over 3s faster than Nakeeta the year before.

Ziyad won the Grand Prix de Deauville (2500m G2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Oi5jyWPTdo. This was the race that Tiberian won in 2017 ahead of a Top 10 Melbourne Cup finish later the same year. This race was markedly faster and Tiberian - who was part of the field once more - finished well back this time around. This edition actually saw a race record, nearly a second quicker than the next fastest time recorded. The winner Ziyad had also beaten Marmelo earlier on in his prep and is ineligible for the Arc: "He is gelded and so we almost certainly need to be on our travels with him and there are some nice international targets that could come into calculations." Melbourne would be nice.... Soft Light (the only 3yo in the race) was 2nd and gaining, and Nagano Gold came in 3rd.


Marmelo's trainer has announced his plans: "I think the plan is to give him a couple of weeks off - then go out to Australia at the same time he did last year, and then go straight to the Melbourne Cup," Morrison said.

"It seemed to work well last year. That doesn't necessarily mean it will again, but the horse is in good form.

"We left him in the Irish St Leger as an option, but I don't think we will be going there unless there is a huge change of heart. If the race was in August then we might have gone there."


Confirmed Melbourne Cup starter Steel Prince starts his campaign this weekend in the Heatherlie Stakes. He's the $4.40 favourite for the 1700m race, well short of his best, but his ballot exemption means his trainer can choose his program to best peak on Cup day, not having to worry about placings along the way.