With the Spring Carnival looming large, The Roar’s stable of racing experts, Justin Cinque, Andrew Hawkins and Cameron Rose, have put their minds to the test in an attempt to predict the future.

Today we’ll unveil who we think can win the three majors: October 19’s Caulfield Cup (2400m, Group 1, handicap), October 26’s Cox Plate (2040m, Group 1, weight-for-age) and November 5’s Melbourne Cup (3200m, Group 1, handicap).

Next week we’ll attempt to identify the big disappointment and surprise of the 2013 Spring Carnival.

Caulfield Cup winner
Andrew Hawkins: Kingdoms
I was a firm believer that Dunaden could not win under 58kg last year, and as history tells us, I was proven wrong.

Perhaps the time for light weights has come and gone.

But the strength of last year’s three year old crop has convinced me that one of their number can walk away with the Caulfield Cup this year.

The two who look most likely are Queensland Derby winner Hawkspur, who hit his straps in the winter once he began taking up a more forward position during the run, and Australian Derby placegetter Kingdoms.

In the end, I’ve decided Kingdoms has what it takes to win the Caulfield Cup.

It’s a bit of a big call, given he’s only won a Kembla Grange maiden, but I think an extra six months under his belt will see plenty of improvement.

More importantly, though, he’s been gelded, so he should have every opportunity to shine this spring.

Of all horses in the Australian Derby, he shaped as the most likely to make a stayer, so I will be cheering him on to win the Caulfield Cup.

Cameron Rose: Jet Away
A whisper that has turned into a roar permeates through the racing industry, and it emanates from the Victorian country town of Euroa, where the David Hayes training team is now based. The word is that he’s back, and Jet Away might be just the horse to propel him to the top once more.

Hayes was well and truly ahead of the curve when it came to importing stayers and priming them for the Cups, securing Fraar the 1993 Caulfield Cup, preparing Jeune to the 1994 Melbourne Cup among multiple Group 1 victories, and following up with Tawqeet’s Metropolitan/Caulfield Cup double in 2006.

None won their first two starts in this country, let alone as impressively as Jet Away did. Hayes believes an imported horse improves many lengths into their second preparation here, and with a win over the impressive Fiorente in Europe last year, his credentials are sound.

This horse was purchased with one major goal in mind – this year’s Caulfield Cup. While he’s a bit
short with over two months to the race, at this stage, I’m not betting against him.

Justin Cinque: Sea Moon
Lloyd Williams’ European acquisition Sea Moon is yet to debut in Australia but he could be the best import ever purchased for Australian racing.

Over the Caulfield Cup distance Sea Moon boasts a victory over 2012 Caulfield Cup winner Dunaden at last year’s Royal Ascot meeting, an eight-length victory over Britain’s champion middle-distance galloper Al Kazeem and a second in the 2011 Breeder’s Cup Turf.

As a Group 1 maiden, Sea Moon should be reasonably-well handicapped in the Cups. His ability to race near to the speed makes him perfectly suited to Caulfield.

The question remains whether Williams is prepared to start Sea Moon in the Caulfield Cup. Lloyd is usually reluctant to risk a Melbourne Cup penalty with weight-for-age winners at Caulfield but he should with Sea Moon.

It’s more than likely that Sea Moon won’t race in the Caulfield Cup (there’s probably more chance of three-year-old Prince Harada going around) but if Sea Moon did, I’d confidently say he’d be the horse to beat.

Cox Plate winner
Andrew Hawkins: Waldpark

Of all three features this year, the Cox Plate looks the most intriguing – but also the most confusing.

The horses at the top of the market all deserve to be there, but all have queries which must be of some concern to punters taking short odds.

It’s A Dundeel is a deserved favourite, but he needs to prove he is as effective the Melbourne way of going; Super Cool was a good Australian Cup winner but will need to take another step; Atlantic Jewel has had 18 months off and no one knows how she’ll return; Puissance de Lune is yet to win at weight for age; Fiorente is up early and it’s a big ask to hope he’ll hold his form until late October; and given Lloyd Williams only has the Melbourne Cup in mind, Sea Moon must be a big query.

In the end, I’ve decided to stick with Waldpark, the focus of an article I wrote recently for The Roar.

He has as many queries, if not more, than all the others around him, but I was happy to take $31 recently. My wallet will be cheering him home, even if my heart – and even my head – are cheering for others.

Waldpark comes to Australia having finished second by a head to subsequent King George winner Novellist. Australian Bloodstock have a great record with German imports, and I’d be surprised if he doesn’t measure up to Group 1 company here.

Time will tell if that includes a Cox Plate.

Cameron Rose: Ethiopia
It takes a special three year old to win a Group 1 after only four starts in their first preparation, let alone one as prestigious as the AJC Derby. To follow up with a fourth, ridden upside down mind you, in a strong Cox Plate only three starts later confirmed this as fact.

While Ethiopia followed up his Cox Plate run with two excusable failures, in the Melbourne Cup and Doncaster, it’s easy to forget he’s only had nine career starts. That’s right, nine. Eight of which have been at Group 1 or 2 level.

Being from the unfashionable Pat Carey stable, he’s something of the forgotten horse and, still largely untapped, surely has much improvement to come. While being set for the Melbourne Cup again, he strikes me as an El Segundo/Fields of Omagh type, and it pays to remember that the three champions who finished in front of him in the Cox last year won’t be there this time around.

While my Cups tips are too short in the market this far out, $41 for Ethiopia in the Cox Plate is well worth a couple of five dollar notes.

Justin Cinque: Guelph
Three-year-old fillies don’t win Cox Plates. Many have tried but only Surround in 1976 succeeded. So it’s a big call to predict three-year-old filly Guelph as the 2013 Cox Plate winner.

But I do it with confidence for a few reasons. Once again, the Australian weight-for-age ranks are poor in season 2013/2014. On Thursday night, one Cox Plate market had the top ten horses in betting accumulating two open-age Group 1 victories between them. And we’re talking about a race colloquially known as’the championship’.

What Guelph brings to the table is outstanding potential. I’ve made no secret of the high regard I hold her two Randwick Group 1 victories in.

Last season, the three-year-old colts, who had graduated from a dominant two-year-old season, held sway against the older horses on numerous occasions.

This season, the fillies are the superior sex in this group of three-year olds and I expect the likes of Miracles of Life, Overreach and Guelph to follow in the hoofprints of All Too Hard, Pierro and Super Cool in making big impressions in open-age races this season.

As the best middle-distance filly in the country, I expect Guelph to take it to the older horses in the next 12 months. Given the chance, I think she can win the Cox Plate.

Melbourne Cup winner
Andrew Hawkins: Now We Can

I’m happy to stick with this untapped French galloper who still has firm sights on Melbourne.

Now We Can has won five of his six starts to date, culminating in a last start victory in the Group 2 Grand Prix de Chantilly (2400m) in early June. The horse he beat, Haya Landa, subsequently finished third to King George winner Novellist and Caulfield and Melbourne Cup winner Dunaden in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (2400m), beating home top French galloper Cirrus des Aigles in the process.

He wasn’t overly impressive at Chantilly, but he showed good enough acceleration and a tremendous will to win. Both are vital for a Melbourne Cup tilt.

He is on target to resume in the Group 2 Grand Prix de Deauville (2500m) on Sunday week, a race in which subsequent Geelong Cup winner Gatewood finished second to Arc placegetter Masterstroke last year.

Trainer Nicolas Clement has hinted he’ll either target the Arc or the Melbourne Cup, but given he is owned by Hong Kong Jockey Club CEO Winifried Engelbrecht-Bresges I think the Melbourne Cup may be more likely.

My hope is that Engelbrecht-Bresges wants to win the Hong Kong Vase with Now We Can. Given the last two Hong Kong Vase winners (Dunaden and Red Cadeaux) have come through the Melbourne Cup, it would be a logical step for Now We Can.

Cameron Rose: Fiorente
This horse announced his quality to Australian race fans with an excellent second behind Green Moon in last year’s Melbourne Cup, and then produced a slashing third over 1400m at WFA in the All Aged Stakes behind All Too Hard and Rain Affair that wasn’t missed by anyone in racing.

Staying ability and a turn of foot? Surely a classic beckons.

Fiorente will have to overcome history, as it’s been 25 years since a horse won a Melbourne Cup after being beaten in one previously. Another query is whether a lightly raced European horse will be able to maintain his turn of foot after a long campaign of hard-training that Gai is famous for.

That said, with three Melbourne Cup seconds on her resume, as well as a Caulfield Cup and who knows how many other staying races, who am I to question racing’s first lady?

Racing exclusively in Victoria is an excellent idea, and we’ll be able to get an accurate gauge on how Fiorente is tracking compared to his rivals. What a race it will be when he and Puissance de Lune first clash!

Justin Cinque: Puissance de Lune
Puissance de Lune matches the profile of a typical current-day Melbourne Cup winner. He is lightly raced. He is European bred. He is progressive. And he is fast enough to win in Australian conditions over two miles.

Jockey Glen Boss thinks Puissance de Lune could be the best horse in the nation. But he doesn’t need to be in order to claim the Melbourne Cup.

I expect Puissance de Lune to attract a medium-sized handicap of 54.5/55kgs which will get him into the final field of 24. These days just making the Cup field can be the biggest challenge for up-and-coming stayers.

In the 2012 spring, the former-French galloper went from a five-length benchmark 82 win to a five-length Group 3 win in the Queen Elizabeth.

He only needs to have continued that improvement to be deserving of the Cup favouritism he currently enjoys. And by all reports, Puissance de Lune is a much more physically mature animal today than what he was even three months ago.

We’ll get to see to Puissance de Lune step out on Saturday in the Group 2 Lawrence Stakes over 1400m at Caulfield. It will be his first weight-for-age test and his first race below a distance of 1600m.

By all means, he shouldn’t be winning. But I think he can and it wouldn’t be a big surprise to see him to go through the preparation, which will include the Cox Plate, undefeated. He’s that exciting!