The international raiders will be hoping to dominate proceedings at Flemington, with a strong set of challengers bidding to take the trophy back to the Northern hemisphere.
The Mullins/Ricci combination look mightily dangerous having targeted this race with Max Dynamite, and although 8/1 is plenty short for a contest of this type, Dettori is in the saddle, and connections have every reason to be confident.
Aidan O’Brien travels with Bondi Beach and Kingfisher for company, the former boasting the pick of the form this season. Admittedly, Bondi Beach is a three-year-old with just five runs under it’s belt and hence inexperience in big-field handicaps may prove to be a step too far. However there is plenty to be encouraged about as he is a strong traveller, a proven stayer, with potential for further improvement. He is also carrying a relatively light weight in the context of his second to Storm The Stars and subsequent second to high quality filly Simple Verse. It looks like he has a bit of class too and I don’t think the draw (18) will pose much of a problem as he goes so well in his races, moreover there have been a number of recent winners drawn in the centre so avoiding the extreme draw out wide is more of a positive than being drawn low. Brett Pebble is on-board and has won this race before, so he should have the experience to steer him in to a position for his class to shine through.
Godolphin have yearned for success in this race for many years and have a dark horse in Sky Hunter. He has gone under the radar in his preparation for this race having run just once this season with a good staying on second to The Corsican in September. That was in soft conditions after a six month lay-off whilst his previous run represented a Grp 2 victory on fast at Meydan in March beating the well-travelled Sheikhzayedroad; he should have improved for his return to action. William Buick is a dab hand in these contests and has had a kind draw in stall 7. This former third-placed French Derby horse may yet enjoy the step up in trip being out of Motivator and he is worth a pop to run in to the places at 33/1.
Bondi Beach 1pt win @20/1, Sky Hunter 0.75pts EW @33/1, Flemington 04:00
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