Victorian based trainer Robert Hickmott is eyeing off the riches of the 2010 Melbourne Cup this November for his imported galloper Alandi.

Five-year-old Irish import Alandi, a son of boom sire Galileo, recently transferred to Hickmott’s Mt. Macedon stables in Victoria from Aga Khan, and is poised to take on the best stayers from around the world in the 150^th edition of the Melbourne Cup on November 2.

Alandi’s first-up Australian run saw him finish a listless second last to Catapulted in the Straight Six (1200m) at Flemington last month, with the promising galloper obviously needing more distance.

The run was mostly used to accustom the horse to the track conditions at Flemington, where the illustrious Melbourne Cup is held as part of the four-day Cup Carnival every November.

Prior to his move down under, Alandi was in red hot form, the four-time Group 1 winner stringing together a number of wins including his gallant victory in the Group 1 Irish St Leger (2800m) in September last year.

Proving himself as a genuine stayer, Alandi also won over 4000m in the Group 1 Qatar Prix du Cadran at Longchamp in Paris, beating a quality field of rivals including four-time Gold Cup winner Yeats.

Alandi has now won five of his nine career starts for over $780,000 in prizemoney and Hickmott will be looking to add to this during the spring.

Each year the Melbourne Cup draws the biggest Ladbrokes.com.au in Australia, and in the 2010 Melbourne Cup pre-nomination betting markets at Ladbrokes.com.au Alandi is currently at the generous odds of $35.

Alandi follows fifteen other Melbourne Cup hopefuls including the early favourite Bart Cummings’ Faint Perfume, Irish mare Profound Beauty, last year’s winner Shocking, Queensland Derby winner Dariana and 2009 Cox Plate winner So You Think.

The betting markets for the 2010 Melbourne Cup will really start to heat up in early August when the nominations close and bookmakers including Ladbrokes.com.au open their odds.

Handicap weights for the Melbourne Cup will then be announced on September 1, and Alandi’s chances of becoming the 2010 Melbourne Cup winner will weigh heavily on what weight he is allocated.

If Alandi goes on to win the world’s richest handicap, he will become the fifth Melbourne Cup winner in a decade to be bred in Ireland or England.

Races.com.au will be the first to publish the 2010 Melbourne Cup nominations, declarations, final field and form of the runners so bookmark this page.

In the lead up to the Melbourne Cup, scheduled as Race 7 at Flemington on November 2, we will also be providing detailed race previews and results for all the spring carnival features.

The Spring Carnival Racing action provides plenty of opportunities for punters to win big as well as the connections of the winning horses.

But if you want the best value betting avoid the TAB and sign up to Ladbrokes.com.au instead. Ladbrokes.com.au are easy to use, pay generous dividends and have a free $100 bet on offer for all new customers!