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The Spring Carnival continues to ride on towards the Melbourne Cup, but before the saddles reach Flemington, we stop off at the historic Geelong Cup, often regarded as one of the best gauges of form for the big race in a fortnight’s time.
Traditionally held 13 days before the race that stops the nation, the Geelong Cup has run for 144 years and shapes up as one of the final test runs ahead of the first Tuesday of November.
» Melbourne Cup 2016: Your complete guide to the race that stops the nation
» Every Melbourne Cup Day race previewed
» 2016 Melbourne Cup
» Melbourne Cup field
» How to watch the Melbourne Cup on TV and online
» Comprehensive Melbourne Cup Day schedule
This year’s Cup will be a little lighter than usual in the barriers, with just nine runners in the field after the scratching of Who Shot Thebarman and Arab Dawn.
It will feature plenty of international talent as well, with many overseas-based horses dominating the race in recent years.
Five of the horses in this year’s edition are coming from overseas. Just three Australian horses have won the Cup in the past 15 years.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at all the ins and outs of the 2016 Geelong Cup.
Start time: 4pm (AEDT)
Track: Geelong Racecourse
Distance: 2400 metres
Class: Group 3
Prizemoney: $300,000
2015 Winner: Almoonqith
You can see the entire Geelong race day live on the Racing.com channel on Foxtel (channel 529). If you don’t already have it, Foxtel will cost you $50 a month for the sports bundle.
You can use the Foxtel Play and Foxtel Go apps to watch all the action on your phone, laptop or tablet.
Racing.com will also have the live stream for free on their website through their Racing+ service.
If you can’t get near a TV or a pub, The Roar will be live blogging all the highlights, results and news from the Geelong Cup which you can follow on any device.
As mentioned, there are only ten runners in this year’s race with a strong overseas contingent, as has been the case with the Cup in recent years.
While there is a good log of Aussie runners, all eyes are on the foreigners.
Grey Lion
Irish runner Grey Lion has been thrown into favouritism by the punters despite a last-placed finish in his last ride at the Prix Kergorlay in France.
Since arriving in Australia though, the five-year-old has impressed with his travel recovery and speed out of the barriers in the practice runs.
After coming off a run of six place finishes with four wins out of seven runs, Grey Lion has stumbled a bit before his trip to Australia.
Two last placed finishes and a second last run at the Grand Prix Du Chant over the same 2400-metre distance has left the five-year-old reeling.
Despite this, he’s still coming in as the short priced favourite with plenty of patience through mid-race and one of the strongest finishers in the field.
Oceanographer
Oceanographer will be lining up for his debut on Australian soil, with the English gelding taking two wins from his past five starts into the race.
He’s strongest on the firmer tracks in the UK and should adapt to the harder conditions of Geelong well.
He has come across as probably the best-looking horse in the field, but he has a lot of strong competition.
He’s picked up three wins in his last six starts and looks to have recovered well from the quarantine and long trip to Australia.
Kinema
Kinema is another Irish stayer with plenty of form and potential in the Geelong Cup.
The six-year-old gelding will also be making his debut on the Australian turf but has adapted well to the conditions Down Under since arriving.
He ran a disappointing 11th in the Ebor Handicap just before coming over, finishing back of the more fancied Geelong runner Oceanographer.
Qewy
To round out the all international top four favourites, Qewy will be coming into this one as an interesting outside shot at the Cup.
He’s really had a quiet build-up and flown a bit under the radar of the bigger name runners in the lead-up but is certainly not one to take lightly.
The stablemate of Oceanographer has had six place finishes in his last eight rides, but no win among them.
His last run came at the Summer Stakes Glorious Goodwood where he ran a strong second place before being quarantined prior to the trip to Australia.
Black Tomahawk
The highest paying Australian horse among the field, Black Tomahawk has become a perennial bride over the past 12 months.
The seven-year-old has finished second or third in his last seven races in a row, missing out on that win time and time again despite being in the strongest form of his career.
His last start in the Harry White Classic saw him take third place on the same 2400 metres that he’ll run at Geelong, and under similar firm footing as well.
While not a blowout favourite by any means, Black Tomahawk is one to keep an eye on, especially for that place finish.
| Horse | Trainer | Barrier | Weight | Odds | |
| 1 | Grey Lion (IRE) | Matt Cumani | 9 | 55kg | $3.80 |
| 2 | Kinema (IRE) | Chris Waller | 1 | 54kg | $4.80 |
| 3 | Qewy (IRE) | Charlie Appleby | 7 | 54kg | $5.50 |
| 4 | Swacadelic (GER) | Aaron Purcell | 8 | 54kg | $26 |
| 5 | Lucques (AUS) | Mathew Ellerton | 4 | 54kg | $10 |
| 6 | Black Tomahawk (AUS) | Darren Weir | 3 | 54kg | $7 |
| 7 | Oceanographer (GBR) | Charlie Appleby | 6 | 54kg | $4 |
| 8 | All I Surey (AUS) | Pat Carey | 5 | 54kg | $31 |
| 9 | Wells (AUS) | Kathryn Durden | 2 | 54kg | $61 |
After an impressive track gallop last week that saw him beat out the Caulfield Cup placed Exospheric, Grey Lion has sensationally dropped from double figure odds down into $3.80.
While Grey Lion was a pretty solid favourite leading over the last few days, Oceanographer has also made some big movements, coming down to $4 to challenge for favouritism.
Kinema and Qewy aren’t far behind, sitting at $4.80 and $5.50 respectively as the top runners bunch in together to create a top-heavy field of strong runners.
Black Tomahawk is out at $7, but is a strong finisher and should find room for a place finish to continue the run of second and third place runs.
Lucques is a good roughie to throw a few bucks on if you have some spare change in your pocket.
He took out the Sofitel Girls’ Day Out Handicap over 2500 metres in his last start, and paying $10 is a solid value for money pick.
If you really want to throw caution to the wind or you’ve had a few too many beverages on race day, then Wells is paying a nice $61 for the win having actually won the last start back in August.
It’s a tough call in such a short field with so many international runners who have never jumped the barriers on Australian soil.
Grey Lion has been heavily backed in the last few days, but Oceanographer would be my pick from the international contingent.
The track conditions and distance should suit him well and he’s had a very impressive recovery from the trip down under after some strong runs over in Europe earlier in the year.
Watch for Qewy and possibly Black Tomahawk to come through and challenge for the place finishes alongside Grey Lion.
It should be fairly tight on the final stretch with such a strong field of finishers despite only having nine runners.
1. Oceanographer
2. Qewy
3. Grey Lion
4. Black Tomahawk
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