John Letts selects Fame Game to win the 2015 Melbourne Cup
FAME Game is the horse for me. The more I look at this year’s field the more I think Japan will win their second Melbourne Cup today
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FAME Game is the horse for me.
The more I look at this year’s field the more I think Japan will win their second Melbourne Cup today.
It was hard not to miss the way this horse worked to the line in the Caulfield Cup and he is going to love getting to the big open spaces at Flemington.
He was held up and climbing all over horses when the race was there to be won at his Australian debut at Caulfield and he will take a lot of benefit out of that run.
Drawing barrier 12 is perfect for his rider Zac Purton. He has options from a middle barrier and, despite a lot of talk regarding the Flemington track on Derby Day where it suited horses close to the inside, I don’t think we’ll be hearing too many excuses in the big race.
The two-mile Flemington feature is won by the best horses. Every runner gets their chance and there is no greater three-and-half minutes in Australian racing in my mind.
The only thing I’ll be disappointed about if Fame Game wins is the fact I won’t be there to interview the jockey.
I’m sure it will be easier for my replacement Sam Hyland to interview Zac Purton if the horse wins compared to when I tried to interview Yasunari Iwata post-race after Delta Blues won the race in 2006.
As far as dangers to Fame Game go, I think Preferment will give the Melbourne Cup a big shake and he is clearly the pick of the Australian-trained horses.
He’s trained by Chis Waller and will be ridden by Hugh Bowman. They’re a powerful team and it won’t shock anyone if the Cox Plate combination again rises to fore in the big race.
Preferment looked like he was back to his Victoria Derby-best winning in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes two starts back and he was working to the line strongly in the Cox Plate where it was impossible to make ground out wide on the track.
And what can you say about Chris Waller. He continues to break the mould producing Group 1 winner after Group 1 winner.
I also think Hokko Brave is a horse worth keeping an eye on, especially at his price.
He seems the forgotten horse from overseas and I didn’t think his Caulfield Cup run was as bad as a lot of people were saying.
Sure he was down the track but he is another who will thrive at Flemington and there is a reason one of the best riders in Australia — Craig Williams — has stuck with the horse for a long time now.
As far as a roughie goes, what a story Max Dynamite would be if he could win the Melbourne Cup.
He mixes his flat racing with jumping and has beaten Trip To Paris back home in England.
*John Letts is a two-time Melbourne Cup-winning jockey
Originally published as John Letts selects Fame Game to win the 2015 Melbourne Cup
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