Melbourne Cup Day could begin on a heavy surface if course manager Liam O’Keeffe’s latest weather guidance proves accurate.
While glorious sunshine framed Saturday’s Victoria Derby meeting, conditions are tipped to shift markedly after a hot Sunday, with significant rain forecast to arrive.
O’Keeffe said the anticipated downpour could push Flemington into the heavy range early on Tuesday, with race-day weather to determine whether the track improves across the program.
“There’s about 31mm on Monday and about 3mm during the races on Cup Day,” O’Keeffe said.
“Crystal ball, if we get 31mm, that will put it into a Heavy 8 on the morning of Cup Day.
“If it doesn’t rain during the day, it will improve, but if it does, it won’t change.”
With the forecast in mind, O’Keeffe plans to tweak preparations to accommodate the expected rainfall.
“We’ll move Monday’s jobs to Sunday because Monday will be a wipe-out.
“We will move the running rail to two metres for Cup Day and we’ll mow the track
“We’ll mow the track, put a little bit of fertiliser and give it a light rake.
“Monday, we’ll stay off it because there’s about 30 or 35mm forecast on Monday.”
In terms of contenders, Melbourne Cup favourite Half Yours owns one prior start on heavy going for an easy Benchmark 78 win in Sydney in May, while topweight Al Riffa has yet to race on heavy but has posted two victories on soft ground in Ireland.
