After her mediocre performance in the 2800 metre Irish St Leger on Saturday, Dermot Weld-trained mare Profound Beauty has surrendered her lead in the Melbourne Cup betting markets.
The testing conditions of the wet track at The Curragh saw Profound Beauty finish an unimpressive fourth, 23 1/2 lengths behind the winner Alandi. Weld nearly didn’t run her in the Leger after the heavy rain deteroriated the track, but decided late in the week to make the start. Jockey Pat Smullen will ride Profound Beauty in the Cup with 53.5kg.
Equal favouritism for the Melbourne Cup, which is less than two months away, now sits with the up-and-coming Vigor, trained by Danny O’Brien, and C’est La Guerre who placed third in last year’s Cup. Odds as short as $9 are being offered by the leading bookmakers for the two, followed closely by Speed Gifted at $11 and the 2006 Melbourne Cup victor Efficient at $15.
Vigor is also the clear favourite for the Caulfield Cup at $9, just ahead of Speed Gifted and Whobegotyou.
Meanwhile, another European raider still in contention for the Melbourne Cup, Changingoftheguard has also struggled in their lead-up races. Finishing over six lengths behind the leaders in the 3000 metre English St Leger, doubts have arisen surrounding his trip to Australia for the Spring Carnival. He now sits down the ranks at $26 for the Melbourne Cup.
