2007 October | Australia Melbourne Cup and Racing News

El Segundo ($7) won the prestigious Cox Plate by two lengths from Wonderful World ($41) with Australia’s most highly-valued racehorse Haradasun ($5) was third.

Miss Finland, a five time Group 1 winner, was the Cox Plate favourite at $4 but only managed fourth spot.

An elite field of Cox Plate hopefuls will contest the prestigious $3 million weight-for-age contest this Saturday at Moonee Valley, in a race that is billed to be one of the highlights of this year’s Carnival.

World-class mare Miss Finland leads the betting and will make her run from the inside barrier. After good draws Haradasun (barrier 4) and El Segundo (barrier 7) firmed in the odds as close second favourites, with Devil Moon and Efficient not far behind. Eskimo Queen returns from her Caulfield Cup disaster, posing a definite threat along with Divine Madonna and Marasco.

Favourite Maldivian drew gate 1 for Saturday’s Caulfield Cup. Maldivian is still the firm favourite to win the $2.5 million Caulfield Cup, however it should be noted that this barrier has not produced a Caulfield Cup winner since Velocity 66 years ago!

If Madivian gets boxed-in the second favourite Eskimo Queen (gate 5) should be a force to reckon with. Others to watch include Douro Valley (gate 4) and Master O’Reilly (gate 6), and Maybe Better (gate 8).

Serious Speed upstaged the favourite’s El Daana, Jestatune and Absolut Glam and became the first late entry to win the Thousand Guineas at Caulfield yesterday.

Trainer Leon Macdonald said Serious Speed was not nominated for the $1 million VRC Oaks (2500m), however there is provision for Serious Speed to get into the Oaks as a late entry at a cost of $55,000 which must be paid by November 1.

Fifteen of the greatest three-year old fillies will line up in the $500,000 Group 1 Schweppes Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield on tomorrow.

Leading contenders include El Daana, Jestatune and Absolut Glam.

The 2006 Thousand Guineas was won by Miss Finland who also went to win the Crown Oaks Day that year.

Watch out for race 6 at Caulfield tomorrow (Wednesday, 17 October 2007: 15:40 AEST). The Thousand Guineas is going to be a thriller!

No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barr	Wgt
1	Jestatune	Fred Kersley	M Rodd	7	55.5
2	Truly Beautiful	Phillip Stokes	H Bowman	8	55.5
3	El Daana	David Hayes	D Dunn	2	55.5
4	Extension of Time	David Hayes	M J Zahra	3	55.5
5	Bantry Bay	Barry Barnes	D Gauci	4	55.5
6	Riva San	Peter G Moody	L Nolen	5	55.5
7	Antarctic Miss	Nigel Sutcliffe	N Rawiller	9	55.5
8	Serious Speed	Leon Macdonald	D Nikolic	11	55.5
9	Absolut Glam	Danny O’Brien	S W Arnold	13	55.5
10	Zarita	Pat Hyland	G Childs	14	55.5
11	Bonded	John Moloney	S Hyland	15	55.5
12	Arcadia	David Hayes	D Oliver	12	55.5
13	Perfect Persuasion	Lee Freedman	C Brown	6	55.5
14	Beaming Bella	John McArdle	B Rawiller	10	55.5
15	Jaywalk (scratched)	Michael Kent	P Mertens	1	55.5

Maldivian was outstanding at the Yalumba Stakes by beating the Cox Plate favourite Miss Finland by 1-1/4 lengths.

Maldivian is now the favourite (a $3 chance to win) for the Caulfield Cup on 20 October 2007 ahead of Eskimo Queen at $7.50 and Maybe Better at $9.50.

The Spring Carnival racing festival continues this Saturday at Caulfield. The exciting day out includes three Group 1 events, with the classic $1 million Caulfield Guineas headlining the program. Weekend Hussler is dominating the feature race betting, with no other horse in single figures. After drawing barrier two, he has the perfect alley from which to make his run. Other notable contenders include the David Hayes trained runners Shrewd Rhythm, Hussun Lighting and Cecconi.

Despite her average Turnbull Stakes performance punters are putting big bucks behind Eskimo Queen to win the Caulfield Cup. One punter wanted to place $50k bet at $8 on Eskimo Queen but was knocked back by the bookmaker.

Should Eskimo Queen triumph in the Cup a few bookmakers will stand to lose over $0.5 million!

Eskimo Queen is now a $6 chance at Sportsbet, a $6.50 chance at Sportingbet, and a $6.50 chance at Centrebet.

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Maldivian, one of the Caulfield Cup favourites will give Miss Finland a run for the $400,000 Yalumba Stakes prize money. Maldivian is backed at $4 second behind Miss Finland ($1.50).

Yalumba Stakes lineup:

Miss Finland
Maldivian
Rubiscent
Maybe Better
Anamato
Annenkov
Sabrera
Brom Felinity

Visit Sportsbet for Spring Racing Betting action!