Alcopop owners won't cash in before Cup
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday October 17, 2009
A LAST-DITCH attempt to buy Melbourne Cup contender Alcopop by Sportingbet Australia bookmaker Michael Sullivan failed last night as he braced himself for a betting frenzy on today's Caulfield Cup.Sullivan said he gave connections a deadline of 5.30pm to accept his substantial offer for the Herbert Power Stakes winner which roared into second favouritism for the Melbourne Cup on the strength of his runaway win.Champion jockey Damien Oliver, who will ride international raider Cima De Triomphe in the Caulfield Cup, was so taken by the win of Alcopop last weekend that he feared it was the horse to beat today, only to learn trainer Jake Stephens had not paid up for it to be included in the Caulfield Cup field at one of the acceptance stages."It is lucky Alcopop is not in the race, he is the horse on the up and he keeps doing everything right," Oliver said.Sullivan rates Alcopop as the horse to beat in the Melbourne Cup and only wishes it was racing in his colours. "I thought I had a good hope of getting the horse, but they never got back to me," he said."I suppose they don't want to sell it, and I can't really blame them. I wish them the best of luck with the horse. I have no doubt it can win the Melbourne Cup."Sullivan said the Paul Murray-trained Predatory Pricer was the best-backed runner in the Caulfield Cup yesterday, with the half-brother to former world champion sprinter Takeover Target challenging Cima De Triomphe and the other international, Godolphin's Kirklees, for favouritism."The good money, the smart money, was mostly for Predatory Pricer today," Sullivan said. "He looks like he'll start favourite come race time. The support has been strong and sustained for him."The Kiwi, Red Ruler, has also attracted plenty of interest while Vigor is a strip-out for us as he was heavily backed a couple of months ago at a big price."Despite betting houses around the country making Cima De Triomphe and Kirklees the favourites immediately after the barrier draw on Wednesday, Sullivan believes Australian punters will steer clear of the pair when the betting interest rises today."We've had no interest on the internationals, no interest at all," he said. "And I can't see the local punters wanting to get on them on race-day. I just don't think the Australians will wear the two internationals. They'll be more inclined to stick with the locals."Sullivan still thinks Predatory Pricer is "over the odds" at around $9. "Put it this way, if he'd had of drawn a better barrier, anywhere inside 10, then I would think he would be a $5 or $6 chance," he said."There is still value available about him."Vigor is in the same boat. He would be almost favourite if it wasn't for the outside gate. He's still in with an undeniable chance."Centrebet's Neil Evans said punters were "all over" Predatory Pricer with his agency."Predatory Pricer has been absolutely hammered," Evans said. "We're already standing it for nearly $1 million."The Caulfield course proper was last night rated a dead (4) after threatening clouds again failed to deliver any substantial rainfall.Caulfield track manager Jason Kerr said punters shouldn't be looking for wet trackers after just seven millimetres of rain had fallen there since Wednesday.Meanwhile, IASbet chief Mark Read has declared he will refund any investments pre-post punters had on Maldivian, which had his spring carnival prospects shattered when suffering a tendon tear at trackwork earlier this week.Connections of Maldivian are expected to attempt to get last year's Cox Plate winner back to the track next year.Read said he had settled on the Chris Munce-ridden Daffodil as his Caulfield Cup tip."Daffodil's rating is at its highest when racing at a mile-and-a-half like we saw this year in the AJC Oaks," Read said."She is blessed with the low weight and comes into this race at peak fitness and is unquestionably a main threat."
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald