Melbourne Cup

Michelle Payne has made her top selection for the 2022 Lexus Melbourne Cup. The 2015 Melbourne Cup winning jockey believes Realm Of Flowers is the horse to ...

“I just don’t know how it’s going to play out for Deauville Legend. It’s such a hard race to win for a young horse like that. “I like that horse a bit better than (favourite) Deauville Legend. They’ve got so many things going their way for the race and at a bit of odds as well.” “I’m really keen on Realm Of Flowers. “I think she’s snuck in with a nice light weight, is in a good barrier (5) and she’s a pretty good mare.

Well-travelled stayer Arapaho has raced at eight different tracks over fourteen starts in a seven month journey to prepare for Tuesday's 3200m big event at ...

He has never been a big bulky horse, he's sort of been the lighter athletic type but at the moment I couldn't be happier with him. He's just handled everything so well," Baker said. "The owners have enjoyed the ride, they obviously dream to have a Melbourne Cup runner. "As much as anything, he has held his form as well. "As he gets through the 1450m mark he will break through the 30,000m mark for the prep so he has done a remarkable job. The Melbourne Cup will be Arapaho's second crack at a Group 1 in Australia – he was eighth in The Metropolitan two starts ago – and Baker believes he deserves his chance.

They were worried Melbourne Cup mare Realm Of Flowers could have died but she has beaten 100-1 odds just to race in Tuesday's Cup.

"She beat Durston and in the last 50 metres was drawing away from Durston who then came out and won Caulfield Cup and was quite well fancied before he got taken out of the Melbourne Cup." "She can't be held up in a race – she just needs to be rolling around the field and start her race 800m from home, just keep plugging away and finding. "Fast forward to recently and her run in the Metrop was an absolute corker. "Realm Of Flowers finished very well to run second to the stablemate, the Freedman team expected the stablemate to beat her a lot easier," Bester said. "This filly was out of Astral Flowers so the name came from there, she was named in honour of my daughter." "She was hospitalised for a long time and then in a paddock for a long time and then had gentle rehabilitation for a long time. "The odds of her getting back to the Melbourne Cup this year were 100-1, that was just to get her back to racing and aiming at the Melbourne Cup. "I negotiated to buy her at under her reserve price, the reserve was $200,000 and we paid $180,000 and put together some friends in a (ownership) syndicate. She left Durston in her wake that day, with Durston then coming out and winning the Caulfield Cup and being one of the top fancies for the Melbourne Cup until vet protocols ruled him out. "She has already beaten the odds to get to the first Tuesday in November." Her most recent performance – finishing third in the Group 1 Metropolitan and being ahead just after the line – was an eye-catcher from a Melbourne Cup point of view. "She developed an infection in her knee, which got quite bad, and it got to the point we assumed it was career ending and we wondered if it might end up life threatening," Realm Of Flowers part-owner and the man who named her and purchased her as a yearling, James Bester, said.

The Melbourne Cup field has been reduced to 23 runners with Point Nepean being scratched on Monday.

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Here is everything you need to know to pick the winner of the great race — including a $100 betting strategy. I have, perhaps a little ambitiously, worked to a ...

She was unlucky not to finish a bit closer in the Caulfield Cup last start. Why he can’t win: Firmer footing may have been the key to his sharp improvement in the Geelong Cup. He was sound over 2600m in the St Leger last start but Stockman was better. He was thrashed in the Moonee Valley Cup last start when given a nice ride. He didn’t enjoy the most economical run in the Bart Cummings here last start but was only 2.4L off the winner. He was outclassed in the Cox Plate (2040m) last start but still crossed the line with Gold Trip. Why he can win: He won this race in 2019 and only has 2kg more here. He was beaten by Alegron and Knights Order three-back and appeared to have his chance in the Metrop. Why she can’t win: She was sound in the Caulfield Cup last start but others here were better. Why he can’t win: He’s never raced on a really wet track and his best efforts have come on top of the ground. A flat spot from the 600m to the 450m cost Montefilia a better finish in the Caulfield Cup (2400m) last start. Why he can win: He was only just grabbed late in the Caulfield Cup by a horse carrying 6kg less than him.

The first two of the big three races on the Spring Racing Calendar — the Caulfield Cup and the Cox Plate — have been run and won.

Then-second favourite, Loft, was withdrawn on Friday after scans found an issue with the German horse trained by Marcel Weiss. If you're in Queensland, the race will start at 2pm AEST, or in South Australia, at 2:30pm ACDT. A crowd of 80,000 is expected on Tuesday. These include the famous main "Loving Cup" for the winning owner, and trophies for the winning jockey, the winning trainer, the strapper who prepares the winning horse and to the breeder. Two of the top three horses in the market for this year's Melbourne Cup are a bit of a mystery, as they have not raced in Australia prior to the race. The race will also be streamed on 10Play and — for those who have a subscription — on Kayo.