The Robert Hickmott-trained Almandin will have to defy history and an 11-horse strong international challenge if he is to make it back to back wins in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m), at Flemington, on Tuesday, 7 November.
Almandin remains highly fancied in betting markets but only four horses have won the race, which dates back to 1861, two years running and victory would also demand a turnaround in Melbourne Cup fortunes for his jockey Frankie Dettori.
Dettori, a frequent visitor to Melbourne for the famous race, has done no better than gracing the runners-up stall on two occasions in 16 attempts. He was second on Godolphin’s Central Park in 1999 and again runner-up two years ago on Max Dynamite in a ride which earned him a one-month ban and a A$20,000 fine for causing interference to several other runners.
“This year, I think it is my best opportunity to win the race on such a good horse who is proven at the distance,” Dettori said of the mount he secured in the wake of a suspension to Damien Oliver.
Almandin was ridden, last year, by Kerrin McEvoy who made an early 2017 commitment to one of the raiders, the Andreas Wohler trained Red Cardinal. Wohler won the race in 2014 with Protectionist.
Zac Purton flies in from Hong Kong, to ride Max Dynamite, as does Joao Moreira who will be hoping to go one better than last year (second on Heartbreak City) when he’s legged aboard the Willie Mullins-trained Thomas Hobson.
However, the two best fancied of the overseas runners look to be Marmelo and Wall of Fire who each turned in eye-catching runs on debut in Australia. They’ll be ridden, respectively, by Australian jockeys Hugh Bowman and Craig Williams.
Overseas-trained horses, from the northern hemisphere, have won the Cup five times since Dermot Weld’s breakthrough win with Vintage Crop in 1993. Each of those five winners had a lead-up run in Australia en route to the Cup while 97 horses, since Vintage Crop, have tried and failed to win the Cup at their first run on Australian soil.
Twelve individual, visiting horses have recorded a total of 15 Melbourne Cup seconds or thirds when first-up in Australia and overall there’s been 11 overseas-trained runners-up since the 1993 breakthrough win and several of those were either narrowly or unluckily beaten or both. Most notably, Red Cadeaux who finished three times in second place.
Godolphin, still chasing that elusive first Cup win, is represented by Hartnell from its Australian arm. Godolphin has had 30 runners in the Cup for three seconds—Central Park (1999); Give The Slip (2001) and Crime Scene (2009) plus two thirds with Beekeeper (2002) and Hartnell last year.
Humidor, runner-up to the champion mare Winx in the G1 Cox Plate (2040m), takes his place on Tuesday – attempting the staying trip for the first time. Boom Time attempts to become the 12th horse to win the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups double in the same year.
The Cup is one of six races to be simulcast from Flemington on Tuesday. The rail will be in the true position as it was last Saturday and the ground is expected to be good.
