WITH the prospect of fast ground at Flemington for the Melbourne Cup tomorrow, the Luca Cumani-trained Mad Rush is trading as favourite on Betfair as punter confidence in Septimus seemingly weakens.
Mad Rush is now the 5.1 market leader on the exchange, with Aidan O'Brien's Septimus out to 5.9, having traded as high as 6.4.
Betfair spokesman Tony Calvin commented: "Betfair alone sees Mad Rush trading as the outright favourite for the Melbourn
e Cup. But I suspect that the industry will soon follow suit, as connections of Septimus are clearly very worried about the ground.
"That does come as a slight surprise though, as he arguably posted a career-best effort when beating Geordieland by five lengths in the 2007 Doncaster Cup on good to firm. At least their stated concerns will probably now ensure that the course is healthily watered on Monday and Tuesday, which will be of some consolation to his ante-post backers, who are now praying for a run for their money."
The Coolmore team were not happy with the firmness of the track on Saturday and reiterated yesterday they would have no hesitation in scratching the top weight if the track was too hard.
Rain and showers were predicted for today and tomorrow, and
Tom Magnier, the head of Coolmore's Australian arm, said Septimus' safety was paramount. "We're looking for safe ground. As Aidan said we want to walk out of here with the horse," he said.
Fellow Irish trainer Dermot Weld, who landed in Melbourne yesterday morning to put the final preparations to Profound Beauty, said he could understand the fears of the Coolmore camp.
"As you know, down through the years I've had a lot of concerns about the track and major concerns the year Media Puzzle won it, even though he won," he said. "You (Australians] tend to accept firmer tracks than other parts of the world would accept."
He said of Profound Beauty: "She's pretty adaptable. She's a Danehill. Once again provided there's no real jar in the ground she'll be OK."
Her jockey Glen Boss, a three-time winner aboard champion mare Makybe Diva, will ride Profound Beauty.
Cumani said Mad Rush and Bauer were both in "excellent form" but was reluctant to get his hopes up too high ahead of the big day.
Cumani said it was soul-destroying last year to see Efficient "come from the clouds" and grab his Purple Moon in the straight.
"I'm never confident because it's a horse race. At best I'm hopeful," he said. "On the hopeful scale I'm probably very high but certainly not confident."
Meanwhile, Zafisio gave underfire trainer Paul Blockley his first Group One success when landing the Criterium International at Saint-Cloud yesterday. Blockley, who was warned off for two-and-a-half years last month after the latest British Horseracing Authority investigation into alleged corruption, was understandably delighted at the result.
"It's absolutely fantastic," said Blockley. "I deserve a bit of luck for all the other stuff I've been having. This is my first Group One. I always thought he was a good horse."
The full article contains 528 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
