We’ve already mentioned about the big weekend to come with the Australian Cup and the Dubai Gold Cup. But we may see even more changes to the Melbourne Cup betting after Saturday’s Roy Higgins Quality.
Glentaneous Heads the Flemington Betting
The Roy Higgins Quality is a Listed event worth $500,000. That puts it in the upper echelons of horse racing, but why top trainers are targeting the race is because it offers ballot exemption for the Melbourne Cup in November.
The latest running of the 2600m Flemington event comes this Saturday with Glentaneous at the top of the betting.
Anthony & Sam Freedman’s runner, ridden by Damian Lane, is around a $4.80 chance on the Tab. In behind is Mankayan for Ciaron Maher but it’s Dunkel who has been a bit of a talking horse.
Dunkel Team Aiming for Guaranteed Cup Start
Dunkel’s trainer Patrick Payne seems to really think his galloper is ready for Group 1 action. The Roy Higgins Quality is a way to get into the biggest race of all.
A dual Derby winner at three, Dunkel has since been campaigned carefully. Now eight years old, he is 8-12 in lifetime starts now and he could be ready to peak.
Even this particular race has been chosen carefully by Payne and co. Flemington offers four golden ticket races for the Melbourne Cup over staying distances and this weekend’s event is seen as perfect for Dunkel.
Payne has acknowledged that this horse has been wrapped in cotton wool thus far. His races have been rather easy, but he has the class to go well in this. At third-favourite, the market has somewhat taken notice too.
Potential Value in the Roy Higgins
Firstly; it would be no surprise if Glentaneous were to win this race. We have noted however several horses we reckon people will latch onto at nice odds.
One such horse is of course Dunkel at around $6.50 with Mark Twain, Gear Up and Mostly Cloudy all between him and Daqiansweet Junior who looks overpriced.
Daqiansweet Looking for Another Melbourne Cup Run
Available at $9.50 and more with many online bookmakers, Daqiansweet Junior remains of interest.
Phillip Stokes’ runner has run in the last two Melbourne Cup renewals and he is very much on course to go again. Given that this is a “win and you’re in” race, it’ll be no surprise to see him properly tuned up.
Though he managed to get into last year’s race easily, the golden ticket is too much to ignore. Daqiansweet Junior is highly rated but taking away doubt about a Cup start is at the forefront of connections’ minds.
Sixth behind the now injured Gold Trip in the 2022 Cup, he improved to finish fifth last year. This is a rock-solid performer who looks too big in the market for this race.
Last seen on March 9, his trainer thinks he has put up his best first-time-out performance for some time which should be kept in mind.
