Today the list of horses vying for a spot in the 2011 Australian Cup field was cut from 63 at nomination stage to 35 with the release of the Australian Cup First Declarations.

The $1 million Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) is one of the two headline races at Flemington’s Super Saturday of Racing on March 12.

Three horses are currently battling for favouritism in the Australian Cup odds at Luxbet with Heart Of Dreams, Shocking and Zipping the early picks to win.

Defending champion and Zipping is number one of the Australian Cup ballot, Lloyd Williams’ evergreen nine-year-old out to add back-to-back Australian Cup wins to their impressive career record.

Zipping resumed for the season with a first-up 10^th behind the since-retired Typhoon Tracy in the Group 1 C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on February 12, the Danehill stayer unsuited to the shorter distance.

Previous Melbourne Cup winner Shocking also ran in the CF Orr last weekend.

The Mark Kavanagh-trained Street Cry five-year-old crossed in 11^th place but ran one of the fastest final 600m sectionals in an ideal Australian Cup trial.

Heart Of Dreams produced the eye-catching run of the race in the CF Orr, Mick Price’s improving son of Show A Heart coming from well back to put a late challenge on Typhoon Tracy and go down by just a short-head to the mare on the line.

The 2011 Dubai Australian Cup has a field limit of 18 starters and other early favourites in the market guaranteed of a start include:

• New Zealand galloper Wall Street (4^th) who won the Group 1 Emirates Stakes (1600m) at Flemington during the spring
• Fellow Kiwi stayer Ginga Dude (8^th) another strong performer in Australia last season
• Bart Cummings’ Zabeel gelding Precedence (9^th) a multiple Group winner who ran 14^th in the CF Orr also needing more distance
• Last year’s Caulfield Guineas winner Anacheeva (11^th) also heading towards a start in the 2011 Australian Guineas the week before the Australian Cup
• Group 1 placegetter Alcopop (16^th)
• Ciaron Maher’s Belvic five-year-old Moudre (17^th) a proven stayer well-suited to the distance and conditions of the Australian Cup
• Zipping’s younger stablemate Linton (18^th), ninth first-up in the CF Orr

One promising Australian Cup hopeful that still needs to secure a spot in the field is Cedarberg sitting 26^th on the order of entry.

Pat Carey’s promising four-year-old Cedarberg will attempt to earn an Australian Cup start when they line up in the $300,000 Listed Mornington Cup (2400m) tomorrow.

Cedarberg is the clear $3.30 favourite in the Mornington Cup odds at Luxbet.

Notable defectors that were not accepted for the Australian Cup at first declaration stage today include Whobegotyou, Vigor and Once Were Wild.

The 2011 Australian Cup final field of acceptors will be released on Wednesday March 9 and published first here at Races.com.au so bookmark this site.

While Australian Cup betting has been briefly suspended, Luxbet is due to reopen their markets shortly so take the time now to open your online account with Luxbet for access to the best Australian Cup odds.

2011 Dubai Australian Cup First Declarations

#	Horse	Trainer	Ballot	Weight (kg)	Hcp. Rating
1	ZIPPING	Robert Hickmott	1	59	119
2	SHOCKING	Mark Kavanagh	2	59	118
3	HEART OF DREAMS	Mick Price	3	59	113
4	WALL STREET (NZ)	Jeff Lynds	4	59	113
5	SCENIC SHOT	Daniel Morton	5	59	112
6	HARRIS TWEED (NZ)	Murray & Bjorn Baker	6	59	112
7	GINGA DUDE (NZ)	Graeme Boyd	8	59	109
8	PRECEDENCE (NZ)	Bart Cummings	9	59	108
9	BOOMING (NZ)	Jeff Lynds	10	59	108
10	TRUSTING	John P Thompson	13	59	107
11	C’EST LA GUERRE (NZ)	Robert Hickmott	15	59	106
12	ALCOPOP	Jake Stephens	16	59	106
13	MOUDRE	Ciaron Maher	17	59	106
14	LINTON	Robert Hickmott	18	59	105
15	LORNE DANCER	Gai Waterhouse	19	59	105
16	MOURAYAN (IRE)	Robert Hickmott	20	59	104
17	SPACECRAFT	Mick Price	21	59	104
18	LORD PYRUS (NZ)	Judy Mawer	23	59	100
19	EXTRA ZERO	David Hayes	24	59	97
20	MY BENTLEY (NZ)	Michael Kent	25	59	97
21	CEDARBERG	Pat Carey	26	59	95
22	WIND SHEAR	Dale Sutton	27	59	94
23	KUTCHINSKY	Tony Noonan	28	59	94
24	HANKS	Peter G Moody	29	59	93
25	MR CHARLIE (NZ)	Peter G Moody	30	59	92
26	SCOTTISH BORDER	Garry Frazer	33	59	87
27	ZEVADA (NZ)	Tony Noonan	35	59	75
28	REBEL SOLDIER (IRE)	David Hayes	22	58.5	102
29	LARISTAN (FR)	David Hayes	32	58.5	89
30	PURPLE	Peter Snowden	12	57	107
31	FAINT PERFUME	Bart Cummings	14	57	106
32	MISS DARCEY	Anthony Cummings	31	57	89
33	PLAYING GOD	Neville Parnham	7	54.5	110
34	ANACHEEVA	Peter G Moody	11	54.5	108
35	ECLAIR SURPRISE	Peter G Moody	34	54.5	82

Photo courtesy (c) Taron Clarke Photography