Here They Come, But Fewer of Them.

Here They Come, But Fewer of Them.Let's start with a warning: hold onto your wallets!The Melbourne Cup has closed its noms with 230 received, down from 297 last year.The Caulfield Cup has 227, from 282.Aiden O'Brien has entered 4. Last year Aiden gave us 15 names. "A long trip, an expensive trip, a labour-intensive trip", he calls it. All four may come, or all four might not... too risky for me at this stage. Look at Bauer as an example of the overseas risk factor. Two weeks ago I thou

Here They Come, But Fewer of Them.

Let's start with a warning: hold onto your wallets!

The Melbourne Cup has closed its noms with 230 received, down from 297 last year.

The Caulfield Cup has 227, from 282.

Aiden O'Brien has entered 4. Last year Aiden gave us 15 names. "A long trip, an expensive trip, a labour-intensive trip", he calls it. All four may come, or all four might not... too risky for me at this stage. Look at Bauer as an example of the overseas risk factor. Two weeks ago I thought he was good enough to make my shortlist, and now he isn't even coming.

Bart has entered 11 but they don't have as far to travel. Viewed, two derby winners and a handful of very promising young mares.

My advice is to hold off ANY betting activity. There's no Makybe Diva (2003) or Media Puzzle (2001) lurking, so far as I can see. Twenty four (maximum) of the 230 will gain a start. That's 10%. So nine out of ten you read in the list will not start, NO MATTER WHAT.

And on past performance, the 94 entered from overseas will come down to maybe 10% of that. Maximum. And, to be frank, some of those ten would not get a feed with David Hayes, Lee Freedman or Bart Cummings.

It's your money. See that it stays that way, at least until you know more than any of us does right now.

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