The Melbourne Cup might be two months away but already punters are turning their eye towards Australia’s greatest race on turf.
And with more than 12,000 horses from around the globe nominating for Flemington’s $8 million two-mile feature already, it isn’t so easy to pick a winner at this stage.
“It’s still pretty early doors yet,” three-time Cup winning jockey Damien Oliver tells Wide World of Sports.
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But while the final field of 24 runners is a long, long way off being set, Oliver does fancy one likely starter.
“Circle Of Fire that won the Sydney Cup, I was really taken by his win, that was a huge win,” he said.
Damien Oliver kisses the trophy after winning the 2002 Melbourne Cup on Media Puzzle. Getty
“He’s only had a couple of trials this time in, and even though they’ve been over shorter distances he hasn’t looked anything overwhelming just yet.
“It’s still really early doors. Once the weights come out and you see a few horses return, then you have a better perspective of the race.”
Circle Of Fire has been installed as an early Cup favourite with various bookmakers.
But there is a more left-field pick that two-time Melbourne Cup winner Corey Brown fancies.
“I really like the horse that won the Queensland Derby this year,” Brown said of Warmonger when appearing on Nine’s Today this week.
“He’s only a young horse but I think he’s an up and coming staying horse.”
Warmonger stunned the Queensland Derby by winning the $1m June feature by 10.4 lengths.
His trainer, Mick Price, hinted his young superstar may be heading to the first Tuesday in November but is yet to commit.
The Melbourne Cup order of entry will be whittled down and rejigged over the coming weeks depending on the results of various races.
Once the order is set on November 2 the barrier draw will determine which gate the top 24 horses jump from on Cup day.
November 5 will be a strange one for Oliver. It’s the first Melbourne Cup since he retired from riding last year.
He is widely considered Australia’s greatest ever hoop but will now be watching on from the mounting yard.
“I’ll be getting some itchy feet I think, by the time Cup week comes around. It’s going to be a bit strange for me,” he told WWOS.
Oliver believes veteran jockey Mark Zahra can win a third consecutive Melbourne Cup – a feat not seen since Glen Boss rode Makybe Diva to three straight victories in the great race.
None of the jockeys have committed to a horse yet but Oliver says whatever Zahra is aboard must be a chance.
“It would be a remarkable effort if he went three in a row, particularly for him because he’s a higher weighted jockey,” he said.
“He’s ridden both those horses (Gold Trip 2022 and Without A Fight 2023) great in the last two Cups and it would be a big effort if he could do three in a row.”
Nine will broadcast the Melbourne Cup carnival from November 2.