Who do you think is going to win the crucial race tomorrow?

Vanity | 11/3/2008 | Me

[beagleone]

I mean in the Melbourne Cup. Which horse should I bet on? Any inside scoop?

[BufordP]

Bet on the “dark” horse.

[1rudeboy]

There was a FReeper around these parts who kept a horse-racing ping list, but I doubt we have any experts in other countries. I may be surprised, however . . . I’ll see if I can find him/her.

[mbynack]

I’m going to vote for Obama. He’s in favor of sensible gun control and he’s going to cut taxes and give us all free medical care. He’s going to fix the school system and get our jobs back from overseas. He’s going to save the economy while reducing our greenhouse emissions. I want change and lots of it. Besides, I’m experiencing white guilt because white people bought slaves a hundred years before my ancestors ever set foot in this country and I will feel better if I vote for a dark skinned man even if his ancestors were Muslim and never were held as slaves. /sarcasm

[1rudeboy]

Do you remember someone keeping a horse-racing ping list?

[skinkinthegrass]

hopefully....the LMSM (APoop/NYT/WaPoop/ABCNNBcBS/pBS/FauxNCBC) "Anointed One"stumbles hard / badly out the gate....w/ his comments about Farmers / Coal...Bill of Rights....and the dark horse (and not Nader :) wins .

[skinkinthegrass]

I’m going to vote for Obama.... and never were held as slaves. /sarcasm
....you can bet n0bambi's forefathers, were probably Muslim Slave traders / Slaveholders....
always striving to be @ the edge / forefront of societal evolution.

"Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments.
Bring the revolution home. Kill your parents...
that's where it's really at."
--Bill Ayers, Weather Underground, 1970

[ml/nj]

Septimus looks pretty good as long as his journey didn't do him in.

ML/NJ

[gate2wire]

If it rains today I’d go with Septimus.

If not, look at C’est La Guerre, Mad Rush and Bauer.
Toss in Honolulu, Nom Du Jeu and Barbicus.

For amusement only. :-)

[phil_t]

My choice: Mad Rush

http://goaustralia.about.com/od/racing/a/melbournecup08.htm

This year’s Melbourne Cup is the seventh race in a 10-race program at Flemington Racecourse on Novembert 4, the first Tuesday in November.

The Melbourne Cup, a Group 1 handicap race over 3200 metres, will be run at 3pm, Australian eastern daylight time. It has a total prizemoney of $5,650,000, including trophies.

Unbroken tradition

The Melbourne Cup has been run each year without fail since 1861. The 2008 Melbourne Cup is the 148th in an unbroken series.

The 24 horses running in this year’s Melbourne Cup were made known after the running of the last race on Victoria Derby Day, the Saturday before Melbourne Cup Day.

On the day before Melbourne Cup Day, it was announced that $71 chance Zarita had been scratched, reducing the field to 23 runners.

Questions about favorite Septimus being able to handle a hard track lengthened her odds to $5.50, placing English racehorse Mad Rush ahead in the betting at $5 the day before the running of the Cup.

The runners

Here are the runners in the 2008 Melbourne Cup:

Racehorse, Barrier Draw, Jockey, Weight

1. Septimus (10) J P Murtagh 58.5
2. Master O’Reilly (6) V Duric 55
3. Honolulu (24) Colm O’Donoghue 54.5
4. C’est La Guerre (5) B Prebble 54
5. Nom Du Jeu (1) J Lloyd 54
6. Yellowstone (12) J F Egan 54
7. Zipping (16) D Nikolic 54
8. Mad Rush (4) D Oliver 53.5
9. Ice Chariot (22) M Rodd 53
10. Viewed (9) B Shinn 53
11. Littorio (17) S R King 52.5
12. Bauer (13) C W Brown 52
13. Boundless (20) G J Childs 52
14. Gallopin (21) J Winks 52
15. Guyno (8) C Newitt 52
16. Zarita (7) D Dunn 52 - SCRATCHED
17. Newport (15) Chris Symons 51.5
18. Profound Beauty (2) G Boss 51.5
19. Red Lord (14) Nicholas Hall (a) 51.5
20. Varevees (23) Craig Williams 51.5
21. Prize Lady (18) M C Sweeney 51
22. Alessandro Volta (11) W M Lordan 50.5
23. Barbaricus (3) S Baster 50.5
24. Moatize (19) Ms C Lindop 50

Fashions: http://www.flemington.com.au/Melbourne-Cup-Carnival-Season-Style-and-Fashion-2.html

Final field: http://www.melbournetrackreport.com/pages/spring_carnival_racing.html

[gate2wire]

Yellowstone scratched.

[phil_t]

At 3.2km (~1.92 miles), The Melbourne Cup is a pretty long race, one-third longer than the Belmont..

The Belmont is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old colts and geldings carrying a weight of 126 pounds (57 kg) and for fillies with a weight of 121 pounds (55 kg).

[beagleone]

Thanks. I just moved here from New York. For the non-Australians here, the Melbourne Cup is a holiday - you get the day off from work for the occasion. Imagine that!

I appreciate the feedback as I am unfamiliar with the dynamics of the race. I am surprised to hear it is longer than the Belmont, which in itself is the longest of the triple crown.

I also noticed in the papers here that most horses in the race are imports from Ireland, UK, NZ. I didn't see any from the USA... Is it the quarantine? Or does the USA just not breed good horses?

[beagleone]

I’m definitely not going to bet on “Honolulu”... sounds too much like Obama. I think “Mad Rush” sounds right, sounds like McCain’s bayonet charge.

[ml/nj]

The horse that won (just barely) last ran on Saturday!

ML/NJ