Melbourne Cup: 29 hopefuls for 24-horse race

With several injured contenders falling by the wayside and out of Melbourne Cup contention in recent times, Incentivise is a huge losing result for bookies and is the $2.30 favourite with TAB fixed odds.However Andrew Balding-trained Spanish Mission has firmed from $8 to $6 since last week and was still at that quote after fellow international Away He Goes suffered a tendon injury and was out of Cup contention on Wednesday morning.“We took an $8000 bet on Spanish Mission in the last week at $7, while a consistent flow of smaller bets has seen his price trim up,” a TAB spokesman said.One TAB customer is eyeing off a potential collect of more than $41,000 on Spanish Mission after placing a $3500 multi-bet which kicked off with two greyhounds which both won earlier this week.The punter needs Spanish Mission, who went close to knocking off European champion Stradivarius at York in August, to win the Cup to collect his multi.In the Cup, it isn’t quite a case of write your own ticket on anything away from the two fancies but there are no other runners under double figures and defending champion Twilight Payment is next with most bookmakers at around the $13 mark.Betting agency Ladbrokes said Incentivise is clearly their worst Melbourne Cup result, accounting for about 45 per cent of their betting hold on the race.“Peter Moody remains bullish and we expect that strong support to continue,” a Ladbrokes spokesman said.“Spanish Mission has been our second best-backed runner, but still remains a small winning result for the book.”CONTENDER RULED OUTMelbourne Cup contender Away He Goes has been ruled out of the great race with a tendon injury.It comes barely 72 hours after champion Sydney jockey James McDonald secured the ride on the Ismail Mohammed-trained British challenger. Away He Goes, runner-up in the Group 1 Goodwood Cup in July, was rated a $15 Melbourne Cup markets.McDonald was due to ride Away He Goes for the first time in a track gallop at Werribee on Wednesday.The Sydney star, who only last Saturday was denied the chance to partner Zaaki in the Cox Plate, was keen to get a feel of Away He Goes on Wednesday.“He’s got similar form to Spanish Mission and they’ve given him good raps so we’ll take a line through that,” McDonald said on Tuesday.“Albeit his winning form isn’t great but I think he looks fantastic from the pictures I’ve seen and I’m looking forward to seeing him tomorrow.“He looks a nice ride especially with the weight that he’s been allocated. Should be around the mark.”His exit is a hammer blow for Newmarket conditioner Mohammed and connections. Australian-owned Twilight Payment, Pondus and Cup second favourite Spanish Mission remain the only northern hemisphere-trained internationals in the Cup field.MELBOURNE CUP FIELDThere are 29 hopefuls in the running for the 24-horse Melbourne Cup field.But there is so much to play out between now and when the field jumps for the $8m event.the Hotham Handicap on Derby Day is the last chance for some horses to make Cup field. A decision on whether Great House, who is No.24 in the order of entry, starts in the Hotham will likely be made on Saturday morning.Emissary, King’s Charisma and Mankayan are other runners in the Hotham who can jump over Great House into the Cup.And there are three contenders who still need to pass vet inspections on Friday – second favourite Spanish Mission, The Chosen One and Delphi.The Melbourne Cup barrier draw will be conducted on Derby Day.MELBOURNE CUP (3200M)Tuesday, November 2, 3pm1 – TWILIGHT PAYMENT () 58kg2 – INCENTIVISE () 57kg3 – SPANISH MISSION () 57kg 4 – VERRY ELLEEGANT () 57kg5 – EXPLOSIVE JACK () 54kg6 – THE CHOSEN ONE () 54kg7 – DELPHI () 53.5kg8 – OCEAN BILLY () 53.5kg9 – SELINO () 53.5kg10 – JOHNNY GET ANGRY () 53kg11 – KNIGHTS ORDER () 53kg12 – PERSAN () 53kg13 – CARIF () 52.5kg14 – MASTER OF WINE () 52.5kg15 – PONDUS () 52.5kg16 – GRAND PROMENADE () 52kg17 – MIAMI BOUND () 52kg18 – PORT GUILLAUME () 52kg19 – SHE’S IDEEL () 52kg20 – FUN FACT () 51.5kg21 – FUTURE SCORE () 51.5kg22 – TRALEE ROSE () 51kg23 – SIR LUCAN () 50kg24 – GREAT HOUSE () 50kgOUTSIDE THE FIELD (In order subject to Hotham and Victoria Derby)00 – FLOATING ARTIST () 50kg00 – EMISSARY () 50kg00 – KING’S CHARISMA () 50kg00 – MANKAYAN () 50kg00 – FORGOT YOU () 49.5kg Via news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site https://www.news.com.au