View of part of the Fujairah Corniche and the Hajar Mountains in the Background

Monday, November 3, 2008

All The Good Not So Good for the Emirates Melbourne Cup

See Melbourne Cup Update Below
After a win in the Caulfield Cup the UAE-owned Godolphin Stable has been dealt a blow with the news that their 2008 Melbourne Cup hopeful, All The Good, will miss ‘the race that stops a nation’.

When news broke earlier in the week that All The Good had some stiffness Sheikh Mohammed's team was hoping that some intensive treatment would enable the horse to be in the line-up for the Emirates Melbourne Cup.

However, x-rays have revealed that the five-year-old horse has a hairline fracture of the cannon bone so it is out of the race.

In The Running
Earlier there were moans from the Aussies at the large number of foreign horses that had come to raid the cup and the financial prize. The money still seems to be on the internationals. Here is the starting line up.

Septimus (10) J P Murtagh 58.5
Master O'Reilly (6) V Duric 55
Honolulu (24) Colm O'Donoghue 54.5
C'est La Guerre (5) B Prebble 54
Nom Du Jeu (1) J Lloyd 54
Yellowstone (12) J F Egan 54
Zipping (16) D Nikolic 54
Mad Rush (4) D Oliver 53.5
Ice Chariot (22) M Rodd 53
Viewed (9) B Shinn 53
Littorio (17) S R King 52.5
Bauer (13) C W Brown 52
Boundless (20) G J Childs 52
Gallopin (21) J Winks 52
Guyno (8) C Newitt 52
Zarita (7) D Dunn 52 - SCRATCHED
Newport (15) Chris Symons 51.5
Profound Beauty (2) G Boss 51.5
Red Lord (14) Nicholas Hall (a) 51.5
Varevees (23) Craig Williams 51.5
Prize Lady (18) M C Sweeney 51
Alessandro Volta (11) W M Lordan 50.5
Barbaricus (3) S Baster 50.5
Moatize (19) Ms C Lindop 5

Much More Than a Race
The Melbourne Cup is much more than a horse race. It is history, culture, fashion and an insight into what is quintessentially Melbourne. Check out this link to see what else is part of the carnival.

Details
This year's Melbourne Cup is the seventh race in a 10-race program at Flemington Racecourse.

The Melbourne Cup is always held on the first Tuesday in November has been run each year without fail since 1861. The 2008 Melbourne Cup is the 148th in an unbroken series.

The Melbourne Cup, a Group 1 handicap race over 3200 metres for three-year-olds and over, will be run at 3pm, Australian eastern daylight time.

Set Your Clocks
The United Arab Emirates is currently six hours behind Australian Eastern Standard Time so the Emirates Melbourne Cup will commence at 9.00am UAE time.
2008 Melbourne Cup Update
Viewed has won the $5.5 million Melbourne Cup at Flemington, giving champion trainer Bart Cummings his 12th victory in the race.

Viewed, ridden by Blake Shinn, just held on to beat the English-trained Bauer in a photo-finish to the 3200-metre race.

The John Sadler-trained C'est La Guerre finished third.

Coming from midfield, Viewed opened up a big lead in the straight before Bauer launched a late bid to be beaten by the narrowest margin.

Video Clip

Dr Geoff Pound

Image: All The Good—Caulfield Cup winner but unfortunately out of the Emirates Melbourne Cup.