Melbourne Cup Horses: Profiles And Predictions For 2021

Every first Tuesday of November, the top-of-the-range Melbourne Cup horses meet at the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, to display their running skills. The winner takes home a handsome AUD$4.4 million, in addition to AUD$250,000 worth of trophies. Thus, you can understand why the race is so hotly contested.

Melbourne Cup horses list 2021

The official Melbourne Cup horses list for 2021 will be released closer to the race day. But before that happens, there are several notable nominated horses whose track record guarantees them a spot among the 24 contestants. In this article, you’ll get to know a few of these horses and what makes them the favourites among bettors.

1. Incentivise

Since Incentivise won the Tattersall’s Cup at Eagle Farm in June 2021, she’s been in everyone’s mouth and is now one of the favourites for the Melbourne Cup. Mark you, she won the Brisbane-based 2,400m event by a whopping 12 lengths ahead of the placegetter Mirage Dancer. If that’s not enough, Incentivise emerged as the winner during the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes Race at Flemington in September 2021. 

Indeed, punters call her a serious horse, and you can count on her previous sterling performances to place your wager in the forthcoming races. For higher chances of winning, you’d want to check out some more Melbourne Cup field details at Racenet. Doing so will help you make more informed bets.

2. Twilight Payment

History repeats itself. This statement got a boost when Archer won in 1861 and 1862, Peter Pan won in 1932 and 1934, Rain Lover won in 1968 and 1969, Think Big won in 1974 and 1975, and Makybe Diva won in 2003, 2004, and 2005. In this same sense, 2020’s champion Twilight Payment has a great chance of winning this year’s race. 

Aside from her previous win, another factor that makes her a favourite is the fact that she’s trained by the Irish Joseph O’Brien, who became the youngest trainer to win the Melbourne Cup after Corey Brown piloted Rekindling to victory in 2017. 

3. Spanish Mission

The 5-year-old Spanish Mission, trained by Andrew Balding, is yet another high-probability winner for the Melbourne Cup. The following three recent races support this opinion:

• Matchbook Yorkshire Cup Stakes: Spanish Mission outrode all other horses in this 1.73-mile race held on May 14, 2021. 

• Gold Cup: Later, on June 17, 2021, Spanish Mission finished third behind Subjectivist and Princess Zoe in this 2.49-mile competition at Royal Ascot.

• Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup Stakes: Spanish Mission came second after Stradivarius in this York-based horse race on August 20, 2021.

All these are turf races, similar to the Melbourne Cup race. As of now, word has it that she’s the best stayer in Europe. Thus, her chances of winning are very high.

4. Grand Promenade

The 5-year-old UK-born Grand Promenade has had eight wins so far in his career, in addition to 6 placings and 19 starts. Indeed, the trainers, Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, have done their best on this gelding, and his nomination to the Melbourne Cup race isn’t by chance. Perhaps his best shot was at Andrew Ramsden Stakes at Flemington, where he came second after Realm Of Flowers.

Before that, Grand Promenade hadn’t won any race over a year, but the trainer urged punters not to judge him on his performance over short distances. According to him, the imported horse is best in races beyond 2,400m. Well, the Melbourne Cup is 3,200m, so you may take the trainer’s word and bet on him.

5. Realm Of Flowers

They say like father, like son. Realm Of Flowers is So You Think’s daughter. Now, So You Think has had 10 Group 1 winnings so far, defeating more than 75 individual Group 1 winners and earning AUD$8.9 million. (5)

In the footsteps of her mom, Realm Of Flowers has already had five wins in her career, which translates to a 25% win rate. More recently, she pulled an outstanding performance at the April 2021 Sydney Cup, so you can still expect her to be in good form. 

Takeaway

As a punter, you agree with the fact that anything can happen in a horse race. But even so, the past performance of various horses can give you some bit of confidence in placing your bet. In this sense, the above five horses are the favourites for the forthcoming Melbourne Cup. 

Other horses to watch for the 2021 Melbourne Cup include Amade, Delphi, Kemari, Al Aasy, Sir Dragonet, Explosive Jack, and Dawn Patrol. Whichever ones will make it to the 24-contestants list, you now have what it takes to make a high-probability bet.