Betting tips / Editor / 26 October 2011 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

In the next instalment of our Betfair exclusive, part-owner Luke Murrell tells us that Lucas Cranach is the horse to beat in next Tuesday's Melbourne Cup.

It seems each day sees another Melbourne Cup casualty, and from our point of view, Anthony and Lee Freedman couldn't be happier with how Lucas Cranach has come on from the Caulfield Cup.

Lucas has coped so well in the past week considering the tough lead-up to his last start. The most talked about hoof in racing has become a non-issue and he hasn't had one single minute of pain or lameness.

Having watched the replay of the Caulfield Cup about a thousand times, not only monitoring the run of our horse but the efforts of our competitors, I am very confident if Lucas runs the trip out next Tuesday, those he raced against in the Caulfield Cup won't get near him.

His fitness really blew out at the 200 metres after he sustained a 500 metre sprint, which really surprised Corey Brown.

Hence we ended up ten-wide on the turn.

In some ways Lucas Cranach has become the forgotten horse in the Melbourne Cup with the hype now firmly focused on American and Dunaden.

They're obviously smart stayers, but I would have expected that following our Caulfield Cup effort, we'd have to be considered just as prominent. To put this in perspective, if the race was run in Europe next Tuesday, on current form Lucas Cranach would be $4, Dunaden $6 and American $8.

The ownership group couldn't be happier with the reports coming out of the camp that his attitude is great and his work is strong. We only have a light gallop on Thursday and a serious hit out on Saturday remaining to round off twelve months of planning for this race.

While he might be equal second favourite, we're certainly heading towards next Tuesday thinking we are the horse they all have to beat.

In the meantime, Saturday will be a good test on a number of fronts. Our new stallion purchase, Latin News, goes around in Sydney, and our old boy, Timetable, races in Brisbane.

Both are serious winning chances.

At Flemington, we are shooting for the stars and trying to knock off Sepoy in the Coolmore sprint with our promising colt Uate. Last year he was rated the fourth best two-year-old in Australia, with Sepoy rated just two-lengths ahead.

Uate is a dry tracker, with his only two failures coming on slow or heavy ground, and if we get a dry track we think we can give Sepoy a run for his money.

This game is all about dreaming and planning, and with luck we can win four races in four days.

Read more at Luke's website Australian Bloodstock.