The weights for the Melbourne Cup at Flemington Park on 1 November were published a few hours ago, and the Australian handicappers have allotted joint top weight of 58kg to Protectionist, the winner of the race in 2014, and Order Of St George, who took the Gold Cup at Ascot in June but was beaten at odds of 1-7 in the Irish St Leger at The Curragh on Sunday.
Since 1950, 23 horses that originally topped the handicap have lined up for the Melbourne Cup on the day, and not one has even made the frame. Neither Order Of St George nor Protectionist is expected to try to lift that particular curse, but the form from The Curragh on Sunday does point towards Wicklow Brave – who beat Order Of St George by half a length at level weights – as a live contender if he makes the tip.
Willie Mullins, the trainer of Wicklow Brave, was within half-a-length of victory in last year’s race, as Max Dynamite ran on strongly to finish second behind Prince Of Penzance after getting into all sorts of traffic problems in the straight.
Verse was re-instated a few days later. The four-year-old is a 33-1 chance.
The domestic action on Tuesday is relatively low-key, but Agent Gibbs (5.10) could be worth waiting for in the last at Chepstow. John O’Shea’s runner escapes a penalty for his win in an apprentice handicap at York nine days ago, and has his partner there, Mitch Godwin, taking off 5lb.
Harwoods Volante (3.30) could be the answer to the best race of the day at Thirsk, as David O’Meara’s runner has very little to find on the form of his last two runs, while Waseem Faris (5.20) is a very fair price for the closing race at Yarmouth. In the jockeys’ title race, meanwhile, Jim Crowley’s book of rides at Chepstow looks a little stronger than de Sousa’s at Yarmouth, and Jazz Cat (3.10) is worth a bet to restore Crowley’s lead to five.
We are no longer able to continue with competitions every week, but they will still run in the biggest weeks (Cheltenham, Aintree, Royal Ascot, Glorious Goodwood and maybe one or two others, as well as the Christmas quiz).
We’ll still have a Talking Horses each day for tips, analysis and news, so we very much hope you’ll join us to chew over whatever racing happens to be going on and post your tips or racing-related comments below.
