Couldn't help myself:

Who has the lucky number 17?

Repeat thread readers (firstly: apologies for how lame it's been this year) would know about the number 17 factor. About one quarter of Cup runners share this feature BUT 10 of the last 12 winners had it. (Last year's didn't; the 2 races where it failed over that period were also the 2 slowest - no coincidence). I am, of course, talking about each runner's Conduit Mare Stamina figure. Way too complicated to go into just what that is here; if you're interested seek the "Is Dosage bunkum?" thread.

The lucky number 17 runners after third acceptances are:
AVILIUS⁷
SURPRISE BABY¹⁶
MIAMI BOUND²⁰
STEEL PRINCE²²
ASHRUN²⁹
SCHABAU⁴⁰

So it looks like four will make the final field, unless there are any scratchings or Hotham winners among them. Surprise Baby and Schabau are the only ones who are also on the top two rungs of 'the system' ladder currently. Can we call Surprise Baby the winner yet?