A massive 10-race program is set down for decision on Tuesday afternoon for Melbourne Cup Day. Horsebetting’s James Herbert presents his full race-by-race preview of one of the biggest days on the horse racing calendar.
| What | Melbourne Cup Day 2022 |
| Where | Flemington Racecourse – 448 Epsom Rd, Flemington, VIC 3031 |
| When | Tuesday, November 1, 2022 |
| First Race | 10:45am AEDT |
| Watch Live | |
Melbourne Cup Day 2022 is finally upon us, a day where all eyes of this great nation of ours is glued towards the action at Flemington. A massive day of racing is in store for punters, with a massive 10-race program scheduled for the marquee event on the racing calendar.
The track has come up a Soft 7 in the lead up to Cup Day, but with plenty of rain forecast in the lead up to Tuesday, we expect to be racing on a Heavy 8/9, whilst the rail comes out 2m the entire circuit for the massive day of racing.
We kick off the day at 10:45am AEDT, with the last jumping at 5:15pm AEDT.
Keep reading for our free race-by-race preview and quaddie selections
Race 1: Maribyrnong Plate (1000m)
The traditional opener to Melbourne Cup Day is the Listed Maribyrnong Plate and we are hopping the James Cummings-trained Zulfiqar can complete the Maribyrnong Trial / Maribyrnong Plate double. The two-year-old Exceed and Excel colt produced a sharp turn of foot when leading throughout to claim a debut victory to suggest he was worth sticking with in the Group 3 four weeks late. From barrier three, we expect William Buick to hunt for the rail as is often the case with early season juveniles and if he can lead upon settling, Zulfiqar should prove too hard to gun down in the opener.
1
ZULFIQAR
3DIABELLI
9
AWESTRUCK
7PARADE GROUND
Race 2: BM96 Handicap (2800m)
We do not need to wait too long on Cup day for our best bet of the day, with the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained White Marlin stepping out in the second event. The four-year-old gelding managed to outstay his rivals in the rain at Caulfield on October 12 and managed to bring up a fourth career win from as many starts. We expect Tim Clark to have this four-year-old son of Mastercraftsman settled midfield with cover throughout the 2800m journey. As he showed at Caulfield, he has a strong turn of foot for a stayer and with a few plodders going around in a race like this, we expect White Marlin to prove far too strong late once again.
7
WHITE MARLIN
8VERIMLI
9
CABOCHE
3TEAM CAPTAIN
Best Bet
Race 2 – #7 White Marlin (15)
4yo Gelding | T: Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | J: Tim Clark (56kg)
Race 3: Greys BM90 Handicap (1400m)
It is one of the more visually pleasing races of the Melbourne Cup Carnival the Greys BM90, where a massive field of 15 greys are set to compete in the in-honour of 1992 Melbourne Cup winner Subzero. Having been an all-the-way victor first-up at Morphettville, it is hard to go past the Travis Doudle-trained Struck By. The five-year-old son of Barbados has a racing pattern which is hard to knock as he is not far off the lead in all of his starts and considering he has two wins from three second-up runs he is sure to take some gunning down. Look for Jason Benbow to use barrier two to his advantage and with a cheap sectional or two, he should prove too hard to run down once again.
5
STRUCK BY
4ASCENSION
1
LOVE TAP
9KOOLED
Race 4: TAB Trophy Stakes (1800m)
With Pericles and Perfect Thought expected to come out of the race, the market is set to be shaken up. One we are hoping who will benefit from the depth coming out of the race is the Daryl Cannon-trained Zoe’s Promise. The three-year-old filly was a determined winner of the Group 2 Fillies Classic at Moonee Valley on October 22 and looks well-placed to continue her strong form. The Swear filly looks set to gain an uncontested lead throughout on Tuesday and considering she is rock hard fit she is expected to handle the rain-affected going. If she can handle the extra furlong she gets in this, then Zoe Promise should run a cheeky race out in front and prove too hard to gun down.
1
ZOE’S PROMISE
12QUANG TRI
7
COOL KAAP
8TOKENIST
Best Value
Race 4 – #1 Zoe’s Promise (7)
3yo Filly | T: Daryl Cannon | J: Alana Kelly (57kg)
Race 5: Super Vobis 3-Y-O Plate (1000m)
Races do not come much tougher than this three-year-old sprint over 1000m, with online bookmakers marking it as $8.50 the field. Having chased home the likes of Jacquinot and Aft Cabin, we have settled on Crosswinds from the Anthony & Sam Freedman barn. The Written Tycoon colt has a win to his name over subsequent Stakes winner Nanagui and is arguably the proven class sprinter on paper. Despite drawing in barrier 18, we expect being near the grandstands rail will not be the worse place to be. If Mark Zahra can have him in clear air inside the final 400m, Crosswinds has the turn of foot to cause a boilover.
1
CROSSWINDS
18YOWIE
16
XTRAVAGANT STAR
15SELOUS
