Equal top weight Our Ivanhowe needs the forecast rain to arrive to boost his chances in the Group 1 $6m Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington today.
Rain would boost the chances of Our Ivanhowe, above, in the Melbourne Cup. Photo by Daniel Costello.
The Flemington track for Melbourne Cup Day has been rated a good 4 and even though Our Ivanhowe has won on a dry surface, co-trainers Lee and Anthony Freedman and today’s jockey Dwayne Dunn believe the German import is best suited when there is some give in the ground.
The forecast from the Bureau Of Meteorology is for a high chance of showers to arrive during the afternoon and Dunn is hoping they move in prior to the 3 o’clock starting time of the Melbourne Cup.
“We need a little bit of rain and if he gets that I think he climbs up the ladder and becomes a live chance,” Dunn said.
“We need the forecasted rain, and hopefully it comes.”
Our Ivanhowe is currently rated a $41 chance for the Melbourne Cup at Ladbrokes.com.au but his price could tumble if the rain becomes rain affected.
Our Ivanhowe is the winner of two Group 1 races with a win in the Group 1 €155,000 Pastorius – Grosser Preis Von Bayern (2414m) at Munich in 2014 before arriving in Australia and then taking out the Group 1 $650,000 Hardy Brothers Doomben Cup (2000m) at Doomben during this year’s Brisbane Winter Carnival for the Freedman Brothers.
At his latest run in the Group 1 $3m BMW Caulfield Cup (2400m) at Caulfield on October 15, Our Ivanhowe settled in the second half of the field before running home for sixth behind Jameka but Lee Freedman said that the German import would more likely race closer to the pace from a good barrier draw at six.
“We’ll probably be a bit more aggressive on him from a good draw on Tuesday,” Freedman said.
“You have to make use of those sort of horses, and trust they’ll finish off anyway. I think this horse doesn’t need to be right on top of the pace, but he needs to be first half of the field.”
Lee Freedman is searching for his sixth Melbourne Cup winning trophy but his first with Anthony since the brothers joined forces as a training partnership in late 2014.
The Freedman brothers will also saddle up English import Exospheric who enhanced his chances for the Melbourne Cup with a solid third to Jameka in the Caulfield Cup.
Damien Oliver returns from suspension to ride Exospheric and is hoping for the same result as when he rode the Freedman trained Doriemus to victory in the 1995 Melbourne Cup.
Exospheric has been steady in the betting for the Melbourne Cup around the $21 mark.
