Rain falls on Melbourne Cup parade
The race that stops the nation could be a dry day, but the same can’t be said for the Melbourne Cup parade, which left protesters singing in the rain, writes Andrew Rule.
VIC News
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By the time the Cup parade ended at Fed Square, it had been rained on by dark clouds that make farmers happy but leave racing administrators wondering why the drought breaks smack bang in the Spring Carnival.
The rain was lighter than the Derby Day downpour but it meant that once the legends, stars and open-top cars left so did most of the crowd, retiring to study Cup tips.
Rain or shine, everyone except hard-core protesters must have got a kick out of seeing old heroes including Might And Power, Brew, Prince Of Penzance, Rogan Josh and Paris Lane having a day out from the Legends farm.
The few hundred diehard spectators who stuck around after the parade watched televised interviews on stage. MC Michael Felgate battled on gamely, interviewing top jockeys who were competing with protesters singin’ in the rain.
Bored police kept the protesters well away from annoyed onlookers — a case of Vegans v Bogans, someone joked — as the anti-racing chants echoed across the Yarra.
Pig-shooter turned gun jockey Michael Walker is probably not sympatico with anti-racing protesters. The Taranaki tough guy said there was a time when Cup Day meant putting the passport in the glovebox ready for a fast getaway “to Vegas for a pool party” but that having kids had changed all that.
Meanwhile, Kerrin McEvoy stifled a yawn and whispered quietly to the evergreen Damien Oliver after each had a turn at the microphone.
Between them, McEvoy and Oliver have won six Cups. If either wins today, he will equal the record the great Harry White shares with old-time hero Bobby Lewis, the man beaten on Phar Lap this week 90 years ago.
Across Australasia, people have been pestering each other for Cup tips for days. The search reaches a crescendo today here and across the Tasman, where most of the best “Australian” stayers are bred. Such as, of course, the sentimental story of the spring: Surprise Baby, the son of Shocking, who won the Cup a decade ago.
The pride of the Wimmera is trained near Horsham by Paul Preusker.
Surprise Baby was bred and born on the same Kiwi stud where fairytale winner Prince Of Penzance was foaled. His rider is another “baby”, young Jordan Childs, who has been living on brown rice and fresh air to make the weight. We reporters want him to win because he’s the best story but that might not be enough in the gut-busting run to the line.
As a service to the once-a-year punters, here is a mugs’ guide to the Cup. We sack sentiment and superstition and try the science of doing the numbers.
It’s a matter of finding excuses to cross out names.
First, sack any “long shots” over 50-1. There have been probably three 100-1 winners in Cup history. Assume it’s not going to happen today.
Be brutal: sack any horse drawn wider than 14.
Sack exotic jockeys who fly in late just to ride … unless his name is Ryan Moore, the ice man who rides superbly everywhere. But Frankie Dettori and Joao Moreira too often seem to have jet lag. Moreira, incidentally, was the last rider beaten on Winx four years ago and does not seem sought after by the Waller stable these days.
Dettori “knocked down” the field on Max Dynamite in 2015, setting up the race for the Payne on the Prince. In 2016, Moreira ran second on the Irish raider, Heartbreak City, after reputedly ignoring trainer Tony Martin’s instructions about when to “hit the button”.
Instead, stick with elite local riders who know Flemington intimately.
Some impressive and welcome rainfalls over the weekend. ðŸŒ§ï¸ ðŸŒ»
— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) November 3, 2019
Osbornes Flat 40.8mm
Rutherglen 37.2mm
Omeo & Mallacoota 34mm
Lilydale 33mm
Melton Sth 39.4mm
Kerang 29.2mm
Laverton 27.4mm
Geelong 24mm
Melbourne city 17.6mm
Falls Ck the highest 58mm.https://t.co/0JYiqQXqda pic.twitter.com/LNakuSK87R
Sack horses that are seven or older — not because “aged” horses can’t win but because Cup history suggests few do. Favour five and six-year olds, preferably well-treated in the weights under the weight-for-age scale. This means gambling that last year’s great winner Cross Counter will fade with the extra 6.5kg.
Finally, go to the stalls well before the race and look at horses. Remember that before Dunaden won he was as calm as a clerk-of-the-course’s hack. Heartbreak City and Max Dynamite, arguably “good things” beaten, were as sleepy as labradors. Gallopers that paw and kick and sweat and squeal might have a future at stud but it’s no way to behave before a 3200m marathon.
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Finally, remember that jockeys and trainers can be in or out of “form”, too. Taken all together, this department is going for the Waller pair: Finche to win (K McEvoy on board) and Youngstar each way, with Anthony Freedman’s Steel Prince the best long shot.
Of course, if it wasn’t for all that figuring, we would vow and declare Constantinople would hit the line alongside Surprise Baby.