Order Of St George cements his spot at top of Melbourne Cup betting

Irish galloper Order Of St George has cemented his spot at the top of the Melbourne Cup betting when he took his winning run to six with a victory in the Group 3 €60,000 Palmerstown House Estate Irish St Leger Trial Stakes (2816m) at the Curragh in Ireland last Saturday.

Green Moon, above, won the 2012 Melbourne Cup for Order Of St George 's part owner Lloyd Williams. Photo by Race Horse Photos Australia.

Green Moon, above, won the 2012 Melbourne Cup for Order Of St George ‘s part owner Lloyd Williams. Photo by Race Horse Photos Australia.

The Aidan O’Brien trained Order Of St George with Donnacha O’Brien in the saddle scored a one and half lengths win over Twilight Payment with Arya Tara a further nine lengths away in third spot.

“I’m delighted with that,” O’Brien said.

“He was just ready to start back so I was a bit worried but he settled lovely and you’d have to be delighted.”

The early market order at Ladbrokes.com.au for the Group 1 $6m Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 1 has Order Of St George as the $11 favourite ahead of super mare Winx at $13 and last year’s Melbourne Cup runner up Max Dynamite and the Darren Weir trained Signoff at $17.

O’Brien will now set Order Of St George for the Group 1 €300,000 Palmerstown House Estate Irish St Leger Stakes (2816m) at the Curragh in Ireland on September 11 before finalising his trip to Melbourne or stay in Europe to run in the Group 1 €5m QATAR Prix De L’Arc De Triomphe (2400m) at Chantilly, France on October 2.

“He’ll come back here (Irish Leger) first and we’ll take it a step at a time with him,” O’Brien said.

Order Of St George will be trying to win his second Irish St Leger Stakes after making a demolition of last year’s field with an eleven lengths victory and then went on to win his second Group 1 trophy two starts later with another resounding win in the Group 1 £400,000 Gold Cup (2 mile 4 furlong) at Royal Ascot on June 16.

Prominent Australian owner Lloyd Williams has bought into the Galileo four year old and is keen to bring him down under in search of another Melbourne Cup victory after holding up the trophy on four previous occasions following the wins of Just A Dash (1981), What A Nuisance (1985), Efficient (2007) and Green Moon in 2012.

Early Melbourne Cup market order at Ladbrokes.com.au: $11 Order Off St George, $13 Winx, $17 Max Dynamite Signoff, $21 Albert, Amralah, Curren Mirotic, Fame Game, Last Impact, Mizzou, Protectionist, Tarzino, The United States.

About The Author

Mark Mazzaglia

Mark is a passionate journalist with a life-time involvement in the racing industry. He spent many years as an analyst and form expert at the Courier Mail and also has hands-on experience working with some of Queensland’s top trainers.