Melbourne Cup 2011

It was funny, i was extremely confident with At First Sights chances...all up until i seen all the horses parade. He seemed a lot smaller than the likes of Red Cadeaux, Fox Hunt, Lost in The Moment, Modun etc. And i thought to myself....this big rock hard european stayers that have had 10,000+ km's into there legs are going to be very hard for him to beat. Still, he was still ridden to close to the lead....small horse like that needed to be ridden cold. His best attribute leading into the cup was his late finish/turn of foot....yet by riding him so close to the lead, it completely took this away. Still scratching my head over those change in tactics.

I thought outside the first two....Lucas, Americain, Manighar, Fox Hunt, Lost in The Moment and Niwot all ran well. I was a little disappointed with Moyenne Corniche, thought he was getting a charmed run in behind At First Sight.

I got the winner but after watching the replay on youtube I thought the jockey lost it for Americain - settled too far back in the field, covered too much ground when swinging wide on the straight, still had too much petrol in the tank when it hit the line like a freight train.

If Americain settled mid-field or closer to the speed and saved some ground on the turn he would have won easily. Easier on hindsight though. Carried the 58kg well and handled the good track. My 2 cents.

I tend to agree, but maybe that's my pocket talking!

I think the barrier determined his (Americain's) fate ilovehorses, he had no option but to go back. Had he drawn better and settled closer the cup would have been his, I have no doubt about that. But it is what it is and thats racing.

ATFIRSTSIGHT was always a query at the distance........the lack of pace changed the races complexion completely........those horses who may have had the advantage of being the superior stayers was somewhat taken away by the extremely slow pace through the first half of the race........

Is your pocket always talking BabyRag? or is it muffled by the sound of cash???

I think Americain could have been a touch more positive initially to find a spot. As for the tempo taking away the advantage of being a superior stayer- not sure.. The grinders did just that.. those with any turn of foot raced themselves into the Top 4 in my opinion.. They were the best stayers.

Ha ha! Cash? Here? No cash. Here? Cash? No. No cash here.

Americain with weight was a massive effort form that far back & so wide turning.. He was finishing off so strong & followers should be proud... thank god his & Reds nostrils aint any longer or it would have been a slightly depressing day for me... Great run Lucas but AFS very disappointing... I like many expected more from him but Ood is right when I saw his stature "or lack of" against the rest of the field I felt a sharp knot in my stomach lol

ripper finish .so amazed how the europeans find the line so strongly wish we had more races of that distance here with european horses in the field .think its fantastic that american is having another run at sandown would be a pleasure to see the horse in the flesh

I agree Buzz what an incredible looking specimen that horse is.. the final touchies on the looks of many of those european horses in the parade ring was alittle jaw dropping to say the least

THE best looking horse you will ever see. I remember looking at So You Think in the mounting yard last year before the cup and thought he was magnificent. Then I saw Americain. Just an imposing speciman.

Spot on there Doc. The presentation of the european runners, was 10/10.

Spare a thought for the lad who put $40 thousand on Red Cadeux at the call of the card to win $1.5 million!

Sean Bartholomew?......the bloke certainly wouldn't be short of a dollar...haha.

wasnt mourayan well backed too at that even though people knew wasnt 100 %. pretty silly unless they get money back for it being scratched

Was it Bartholomew? I don't reckon it was ood? buzz, I think there was a bit of money at the call on Mourayan. Pretty stupid.

It was either Bartholomew or this bloke who was the BIGGEST punter in the room called "Dave" who was backing Red Cadeux. Might have even been Alan Eskander who had some on as well. Trying to remember. Think it was the "Dave" bloke. And it was with Surebet (yes i know, who???) and he would only let him on for $10k and Eskander let him on for the other $30k but at lesser odds.

They get money back for being scratched buzzdnb.

Picked up Red Cadeaux in the sweep which was nice! Hats off to Americain though for making the most out of a bad situation. Class horse.