Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has warned the Australian public
that economic times are about to get "ugly," but that is not
expected to prevent a betting splurge today on the country's
great horse race, the Melbourne Cup.
People are expected to ignore the financial gloom and
celebrate the Cup, even though the favourites come from
Europe.
Rudd though has chosen his pick for the horse race with a
view to the hard times ahead, selecting Zipping "because it
is time to zip it," he said yesterday.
Veteran Melbourne bookmaker Michael Eskander says his
turnover on Cup betting so far is 35 percent up on the same
time last year, while Sportsbet chief executive Matthew Tripp
is expecting to take A$15 million tomorrow, up slightly on
last year.
"Economic crises produce a couple of things and that is that
people tend to drink more and they tend to bet more," he told
The Age newspaper.
The big punters were out in force for the Call of the Card
function for the Melbourne Cup yesterday and the Irish mare
Profound Beauty was clearly the best backed, with a $A3.4
million splurge bringing her into a clear third favourite at
$7.50. She was $17 only a week ago.
The favourites stayed steady, with Mad Rush at $5 and
Septimus $5.50. Mad Rush is from England but ridden by one of
Australia's top jockeys in Damien Oliver, while the Irish
visitor, Septimus, is trained by Aidan O'Brien, considered by
many the best trainer in the world.
New Zealander Nom Du Jeu is an $8.50 fourth favourite. He has
been the country's best performed four-year-old this season,
winning friends in Australia with his strong finish for
second in the Caulfield Cup just over two weeks ago.
Zipping is the best backed Australian runner, but is out at
$16. One bookmaking firm, Luxbet, has gone as far as
introducing an Anzac betting option for first Australasian
horse home, with Nom Du Jeu the obvious favourite at $3.30.
The horse, trained by father and son combination Murray and
Bjorn Baker, has drawn barrier one. That could mean trouble,
with the possibility of him getting snookered on the rails,
but his Sydney-based South African jockey Jeff Lloyd was
looking at the positives yesterday.
"He is a horse who reacts to you very quickly whereas a lot
of stayers do not," he said.
Boundless and Prize Lady, both mares, are the other New
Zealand runners and both seem over the odds at $101 in
Australia, though Prize Lady has been backed in from $151.
There are New Zealand ownership interests in Gallopin, Bauer
and C'Est La Guerre, the New Zealand Derby winner, who
transferred to the Melbourne stable of John Sadler earlier
this year.
The field has been reduced by two to 22, with Zarita
scratched yesterday because of a virus and Yellowstone
withdrawn because of a hip injury.
The English raider Yellowstone was subject to numerous vet
tests, causing his jockey John Egan to refer in a television
interview to "tinpot Hitlers". That resulted in him being
fined a whopping $A8000 by Australian racing officials
yesterday.
