Ramsden Brewing Up a Winner

The easy solution to backing the winner of the Melbourne Cup is not an option this year - Bart Cummings doesn't have a runner.

The issue is further clouded by an unprecendented number of overseas horses trying steal the Cup away from Australia. Most of them haven't been seen in action in this country yet, so we only have their overseas form lines to go on, which have proven notoriously difficult to analyse in the past.

Bookies and punters seem equally confused, with the latest favourite being the John Hawkes trained Freemason who turned in a sterling effort when running home strongly for fourth in the Mackinnon Stakes on Saturday. This came after an equally eye catching run in the Caulfield Cup where he stormed home from eleventh on the turn to run fourth. He is certain to have been trained with only the Melbourne Cup in view and is by sire sensation Grand Lodge, the sire of the winner of the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe this year, Sinndar.

Of the overseas contingent, perhaps the most promising is Arctic Owl, who has been set for the Cup for at least the last 12 months. He won the Irish St Leger over 2800m at his last start in September and is believed to have settled in well at the quarantine facility at Sandown. Arctic Owl has been very consistent as a racehorse, winning nearly half of his races and being placed an astonishingly high 80% of the time. Much of his recent racing in Europe has been at the top level and he should certainly give the Cup a shake.

Enzeli is the latest in a seemingly endless stream of high priced international stayers which have been purchased by Australian and New Zealand interests with the intention of winning the Cup. The Aga Khan, who sold Enzeli to Lloyd Williams and his regular partner in many previous such ventures, Kerry Packer, must be laughing all the way to the bank at his ability to sell his cast offs for such good prices. Nevertheless, it doesn't take a horse of enormous class to win the Melbourne Cup and Enzeli has shown himself more than handy in Europe with 6 wins from only 13 starts.

Another interesting runner is Far Cry, part owned by expatriate Australian racecaller Jim McGrath. Jim has long had an ambition to own a horse good enough to run in the Cup and Far Cry certainly seems useful. At his last two runs, he has run second in top class English staying races, the Group 2 Goodwood Cup and the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup over 4000m. He will certainly stay the distance and will probably appreciate not having to jump the hurdles he has had to negotiate before switching back to flat racing lately.

Lightning Arrow, owned by the unstoppable Godolphin stable, looks on form to be outclassed and running at an unsuitable distance. However, Godolphin nearly stole the race last year with their "pacemaker" Central Park and its certain Lightning Arrow is not here just to make up the numbers.

Best of the locals appears to be Diatribe, who broke the track record in winning the Caulfield Cup and is trained by the old master George Hanlon. He is by stallion Brief Truce, who is currently the leading Australian sire by stakeswinnings this season. An interesting aspect of the Brief Truce story is that after being banished by the mighty Woodlands empire of Jack and Bob Ingham, he found himself at his owner's boutique stud in Switzerland. Said owner just happens to be an heiress to the Nestle chocolate fortune and horses are her hobby. Innovative Victorian stud, The Independent Stallion Station, tracked him down and induced the owner to shuttle him to Australia once again. Standing at the bargain fee of $6,600, he is of course solidly booked and many astute Victorian breeders are congratulating themselves on their good fortune, as his fee is certain to increase next year.

New Zealand bred stayer Kaapstad Way looks certain to stay the demanding 3200m journey. His on again, off agin jockey, Damien Oliver, has already tasted Melbourne Cup success and will be hoping that he pulls the right rein this time after being seriously embarrassed by getting off the horse in the Caulfield Cup, only to have the discard beat him home.

Allan Denham will be looking to match his father Jack's win with Might and Power when he saddles up the proven 3200m performer Yippyio. Owned by prominent breeders Geoff and Beryl White, Yippyio will relish the drop to 52kg from the 58kg or so he has been carrying lately. His rider, Darren Beadman, is no stranger to Melbourne Cup glory either and is sure to give Yippyio a good sight.

The all conquering Zabeel has three runners in the race he has come to dominate lately. These are Our Unicorn, Hill of Grace and Pravda. Perhaps the best of these is Hill of Grace, who ran a nice even race in the Mackinnon on Saturday. The in form Glen Boss rides her and she is only carrying 50.5kg.

Finally, the wonderfully well bred and named Brew (by Sir Tristram from Horlicks) cannot be overlooked. Owned by VRC Chairman Andrew Ramsden and a group of his friends, Brew has been patiently handled by Mike Moroney and is running into form at the right time. His grinding win in the Saab Quality on Saturday was full of class, he goes well at Flemington and certainly likes the sting out of the ground. Lightweight jockey Kieran McEvoy will have the biggest thrill of his life and will certainly make the ceiling shake in remote Streaky Bay if he wins. Brew will hardly know he has a jockey on his back with only 49kg to carry.

For mine, the field looks evenly matched, with the better horses having to carry higher weight under the handicap conditions. I think that Brew comes in very well at the weights and is a great lightweight chance. Arctic Owl impresses as a genuine reliable stayer who will certainly get the distance. For third, I'll put in Diatribe, who has been trained to the minute for this race and whose form is ideal.

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