With the 2016 Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate out of the way, punter attention can focus on the Melbourne Cup carnival and four day of Group 1 racing.
The Cox Plate at Moonee Valley had some interesting impacts on the early betting for the Melbourne Cup.
Hartnell eased a bit after the Cox Plate, where not even binoculars could have given him a good look at Winx.
The Group 2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup shortened Grand Marshall from $51 to $26. Place getter Who Shot Thebarman went from $26 to $21. Kiwi stayer Pentathlon cut his odds in half for the Cup, from $101 to $51, but even unplaced runner Gallante and Excess Knowledge eased.
The Group 2 Moonee Valley Vase was won by Sacred Elixir in impressive fashion, which will undoubtedly shorten him for the Victoria Derby. Runner-up Mordova went from $51 to $21.
Third place Cox Plate finisher Yankee Rose is forming up well for the VRC Oaks. She is down from $4.50 to $2.00 on the strength of a good performance against two more mature champions.
The markets will obviously shift some more in the next ten days as the final field is determined and the Melbourne Cup barrier draw announced.
