Our closest rival country New Zealand has 2 entries in tomorrow’s 2010 Melbourne Cup. Harris Tweed and the John Sargent trained “Red Ruler”.
Red Ruler has had somewhat of a lackluster preparation during the Spring. Earlier in 2010 the 6yo gelding proved to strong for his rivals winning 3 consecutive Group races. The City of Auckland G2 over 2400m, the Trentham Telegraph G3 over 2100 and the Wellington Cup G2 over 2400m. Mark Du Plessis rode him on all 3 occasions so one would assume he has good knowledge of the horse.
Red Ruler a 301/1 shot in tomorrow's Melbourne Cup - sportpix.com.au
This will be Red Rulers first attempt at the 3200m Melbourne Cup. Jockey Mark Du Plessis has only had 1 ride in the cup, Spinning World who finished down field in the 2009 Melbourne Cup. This year Mark will be hoping to finish a lot closer on Red Ruler.
Red Ruler has the staying pedigree to possibly pull of a surprise result, Viking Ruler x Ransom Bay.
Viking ruler was placed in the AAMI Vase in 2001 and Ransom Bay being out of Red Ransom.
This preparation has seen the horse cover 11,500m and should be fit and ready. The Gelding’s run in the G2 Lexus stakes on derby day saw him run towards the rear of the field, instead of up on the speed.
This change appeared to help as he relaxed better and had a little left in reserve when hitting the straight, beating home a handful of horses.
In the Caulfield Cup he sat 4th during running but didn’t have anything left in the tank dropping out to 14th. The heavy track may have been the reason.
However, to have any chance of being competitive tomorrow, the track would need to dry out as he doesn’t appear to handle slow/heavy tracks to well.
His run in the G1 Underwood he was stuck wide but appeared to perform well on top of the ground only finishing 4.5 lengths behind the champion So You Think.
If you decide to have a bet tomorrow on the cup, the team at Just Horse Racing would suggest to throw Red Ruler in for the trifecta/First Four only if the track is upgraded to a Dead (4)
Currently Red Ruler is 300-1 with Sportsbet.
Written by Ryan Jukes
