The 2025 Melbourne Cup has arrived, with a strong field of 24 horses from all corners of the globe to contest the $10m race that stops the nation.
A respected voice in the game with three horses in the field, has dished out some brutal assessments of several runners.
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Leading female jockey Jamie Melham made history three weeks ago and will be out to do so again on the ten-year anniversary of a special moment in the sport.
Meanwhile, a legendary UK trainer could achieve a supremely rare feat if he’s finally able to break his Melbourne Cup duck.
Read on for all of the talking points ahead of the 2025 Melbourne Cup!
HOW LEADING HOPE PROFILES SIMILARLY TO FORMER WINNER
No trainer has a better hand in this afternoon’s Melbourne Cup than Chris Waller.
The country’s leading trainer will have five horses fly the flag at 3pm (AEDT), including market fancies Buckaroo ($9) and Valiant King ($9).
Both horses contested the race last year with Buckaroo finishing 9th and Valiant King 13th.
12 months later, they are different horses. Valiant King especially has taken a huge leap forward.
After a slow start in Australia for the UK import, he’s been excellent this preparation.
He won at Flemington over 2520 metres in the first week of October, backing that up with a 3rd in the Caulfield Cup last start.
In this piece last year, we noted Waller had given Valiant King a minor chance in last year’s Cup at $126.
While the horse could only manage a midfield finish, it gave an insight into Waller’s opinion of the gelding. 12 months later, and the five-year-old is sharing favourtism.
The master trainer’s other fancy Buckaroo comes into this off a heartbreaking 2nd in the Cox Plate, where he beat all bar Australia’s best horse Via Sistina in Australia’s best race.
The Cox Plate is often a strong form reference for the Melbourne Cup. Since 2000, six winners contested the Cox Plate the start prior.
Four years ago, we saw superstar mare Verry Elleegant run a slashing 3rd in the Cox Plate and a fortnight later, blow her rivals away on the first Tuesday in November.
Waller is hoping Buckaroo can follow in the late mare’s footsteps.
He more or less did over the past 12-18 months.
Last year, Buckaroo followed a near identical racing prep to what Verry Elleegant took on in 2020 before she finished 7th in that year’s edition of the Cup.
Buckaroo ran 9th in this last year.
Like Verry Elleegant in 2021, Buckaroo has had four runs this prep in readiness for the Cup.
It’s extremely easy to draw parallels between the two horses.
We have to remember that Verry Elleegant was a 11-time Group 1 winner. She was as talented and genuine as they come. Buckaroo hasn’t reached those heights but his trainer clearly thinks the world of him if these comments are anything to go by.
“I’d like them all to get good barriers but if Buckaroo could draw well and get the soft run he could blow them away with his sprint,’’ Waller said.
Just like Verry Elleegant did at Flemington four years ago.
RESPECTED BLOODSTOCK AGENT’S ALL-IMPORTANT CUP VERDICT
– James Lamb (Punters.com)
With two Melbourne Cups to his name – Protectionist in 2014 and Gold Trip in 2022 – Australian Bloodstock founder and director Luke Murrell is a respected voice when it comes to the race that stops the nation.
He is also an outspoken voice and would never be accused of sitting on the fence when it comes to his form assessments.
Murrell and Australian Bloodstock will have strong representation in this year’s race, with boom Irish raider Al Riffa flying the flag alongside Vauban and Royal Supremacy.
While history is well and truly against Al Riffa, Murrell has the topweight marked a $3.80 favourite on his ratings, more than half the horse’s current odds with TAB at $8.50.
“Gold Trip was a wonderful horse but Al Riffa is probably a two to three-length better horse than him,” Murrell said on his Melbourne Cup preview show for Winning Edge Investments.
“Protectionist was a genuine superstar and he’s on par with him.
“That (2014 Melbourne Cup) was probably the most confident I’ve ever been in a race, and I’m not too far off that with Al Riffa,” Murrell said.
Al Riffa, to be ridden by Mark Zahra who has won two of the past three Melbourne Cups, will have to lump 59kg to victory – something that hasn’t been done since Rain Lover won the 1969 Cup with 60.5kg.
“There’s been a lot of horses that have come out with big weights and they’ve been genuine stayers – this horse is not a whacker, he’s a proper turn-of-foot horse,” Murrell said.
“Two runs ago, he carried 62kg to win a Group 2. There was a 1000m Group 2 race on the same card and they ran only three lengths quicker than Al Riffa got home in a 2800m race.
“The weight won’t be an issue. When you see him in the yard, he’s an absolute Adonis, he’s a massive horse.”
Murrell also gave his unfiltered and surprising thoughts on some of Al Riffa’s main rivals in the market.
Vauban – “If we get a genuine wet track, he’ll absolutely explode on it.”
Royal Supremacy – “He’s a hard-pulling horse who might be 12 months away. He looks more of a 2200 to 2400m horse, I’ve got a real query on him running the distance.”
Meydaan – “I reckon he’s hopeless this horse. I don’t like him on a wet track, he’s got no speed out of the gates. I got him 200-1 and that’s being kind”
Presage Nocturne – “He’s very fit, a wet track no problem, but I think a proper tempo could expose him … I don’t see him as a winning chance … Al Riffa has seven lengths on him.”
Valiant King – “I despise the miles in his legs being only 6000m. It’s such a light preparation. I think he’s way too short at $8.
Buckaroo – “He’s a ripping horse but it’s an afterthought. Simply not enough miles in his legs. He’s not really in the race.”
Absurde – “Not a winning chance, but third to seventh. One for exotics.”
Flatten The Curve – “He’d be better suited in a Balnarring Cup. I’ve got him 300-1.”
This originally appeared on Punters.com and was republished with consent
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UK LEGEND OUT TO CAP MASSIVE WEEK
Attempting to win the Melbourne Cup has been a long, tough slog for legendary trainer Willie Mullins.
The veteran Irish horseman has been trying to win our great race for over 20 years but has so far failed to do so.
It’s not like he hasn’t had leading chances either. The most recent example is Vauban, who failed to crack the top ten as race favourite in 2023 and 2024 (14th and 11th respectively). Vauban is now in the care of the Gai Waterhouse/Adrian Bott yard and will contest the race for a third straight year.
In fairness to Mullins, he’s done everything but win the race over the years.
Max Dynamite in the 2015 Melbourne Cup (2nd) was his best result but he’s also had runners finish third, fourth and sixth.
He’ll only have the one runner this year. That’s Absurde, who is a $21 chance with bookies.
Absurde ran a super race last year in his second attempt at the Cup, finishing 5th, 1.7L behind winner Knight’s Choice.
The seven-year-old gelding finished 7th in the 2023 edition of the Cup.
The difference between this year and his other two attempts is that he’s had a tune up run in Australia before his grand final.
It’s a vital difference and a factor that should see him improve on his 5th-placed finish.
If Absurde was to win, it would cap a brilliant week for Mullins.
The 69-year-old was just in the USA to see his horse Ethical Diamond take out the famous Breeders’ Cup Turf race at Del Mar over the weekend.
Ethical Diamond’s original plan was to run in the Melbourne Cup but when Racing Victoria vets didn’t like what they saw in the horse’s gallop in a video sent over by the stable, Mullins had to settle for Plan B. It ended up being the best plan.
Ethical Diamond and Absurde are raced by the same interests, the HOS Syndicate. You can imagine the scenes if they’re able to pull off the rare big-race double.
For what it’s worth, Absurde beat home Ethical Diamond when the two horses clashed in a hurdle race at the Cheltenham festival earlier this year.
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McDonald drawn at barrier 22 for Cup | 00:32
STAR FEMALE HOOP AIMING FOR CUP WIN ON SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY
It’s been 10 years since Michelle Payne’s famous win aboard Prince of Penzance in 2015.
Now another jockey has a chance to join Payne as the only female to win the Melbourne Cup.
Gun hoop Jamie Melham has been booked to ride Half Yours, the current favourite to take out the famous race in 2025.
The McEvoy trained horse won the Caulfield Cup, has drawn barrier eight and is well and truly in a purple patch, hoping to capitalise with the big fish that is the Melbourne Cup.
Rain will be no issue for Half Yours, who has copped a two kilogram weight penalty, and also has never ran the 3200 metre distance.
But if anyone knows how to get the best out of this five-year old gelding, it’s Melham, who three weeks ago became the first female jockey to ever win the Caulfield Cup
“I’m going to do the rain dance on Monday,” she said to the ABC.
“We’re apparently getting a hell of a lot of rain, which is going to suit this horse. He loves it, he swims through it; he doesn’t need it, but he definitely appreciates it.”
She also has no concerns about her ride seeing out the trip.
“I think he’ll definitely get the trip if I can just find the rail, put him to sleep, and … let that first wave of horses get past me and just wait for the second crack at it,” she said.
Melham is one of three female jockeys in this year’s edition of the race that stops the nation, with Rachel King aboard Arapaho and Celine Gaudray riding Torranzino.
CAN LAST YEAR’S HERO DO IT AGAIN?
Robbie Dolan is under no illusions eyes will be on him.
The Irish-born hoop won the 2024 Melbourne Cup on rank outsider Knights Choice, and this year he arguably has a much better chance of being first past the post.
Dolan was booked to ride Royal Supremacy by Ciaron Maher, a horse that currently sits as a $31 shot and one that has form that stacks up with its rivals.
Two starts back it won The Metropolitan, a group 1 race over 2400 metres and was fifth in the Caulfield Cup, beaten by only 2.5 lengths.
This horse has never been tested over 3200 metres, but is carrying only 51 kilograms, one more than it did during its Metrop victory.
Regardless, Dolan will simply be putting the pressure aside and hoping to give the Maher-trained gun the best possible ride.
“I will have plenty of eyes on me and it will be a lot different to last year,” Dolan said to RaceNet.
“But I don’t really think about that. I don’t go out there to please anyone else, except for my trainer and my owners and my horse.
“Once I get legged up on the horse, I am in the zone and I don’t worry about any sort of pressure.
“If I’m on a favourite or a 50-1 pop, it’s the same job for me really, I just go out and try to give them the best ride possible. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t happen.”
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