2019 Melbourne Cup Favourite Mer De Glace Firms Overnight After Drawing Barrier Two

November 3, 2019

2019 Melbourne Cup Favourite Mer De Glace Firms Overnight After Drawing Barrier Two

Japanese import and 2019 Caulfield Cup winner Mer De Glace has been the early market mover in 2019 Melbourne Cup betting overnight with Ladbrokes.com.au.

Hisashi Shimizu’s winning five-year-old drew gate two at last night’s barrier draw and has since firmed from $8.00 into $7.00 with the bookmaker.

The move comes as no surprise with in-form jockey Damian Lane onboard as the 25-year-old not only seeks his 18th Group 1 win but also a spot in the history books as the first hoop to complete the Golden Slipper, Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup grand slam.

Mer De Glace. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

Mer De Glace is hoping to become the first horse since Ethereal in 2001 to complete the Caulfield Cup-Melbourne Cup double. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

Lane has won 20% of his last 50 starts and will carry a 1kg penalty in Tuesday’s $7 million race. Lane scouted Mer De Glace earlier in June during a brief stint in Hong Kong where he rode the talented stayer to a win in the Group 3 Nauo Kinen over 2000m at Hanshin before quickly convincing owners to make the trip Down Under.

A win aboard Godolphin’s Kiamichi in the Golden Slipper kick-started Lane’s incredible run before he saddled Mer De Glace a fortnight ago and Lys Gracieux in the Cox Plate last weekend. Lane has never won the Melbourne Cup and will be hoping to improve on last year’s disappointment aboard Zacada.

During trackwork on Friday Lane said he was confident with how Mer De Glace pulled up from the Cup.

“Really happy with him. He was just out there for a bit of a stretch of the legs and he seemed in good order,” Lane told Racing.com.

The last horse to win from barrier two was Might and Power in 1997, while the last Japanese horse to win the Cup was Delta Blues in 2006.

Lane was then asked if he could draw any comparisons between now and his last start and went on to say that the Japanese stallions attitude is right where it needs to be.

“Very similar, his attitude was really good. If anything, he was probably a little bit brighter when I worked him at Caulfield and before he won at Caulfield, so that was a good sign. He doesn’t seem to take much harm from the run, so I think that was the main thing we were looking for today,” Lane went on to say.

Tuesday will mark Mer De Glace’s first step up beyond 2400m, posing plenty of questions heading into the race that stops a nation.

“It’s a big question mark. My gut feel is he’ll run it out, everything we’ve put in front of him to date he’s handled well so I’m hoping that he can handle this as well

I guess I was more confident ahead of the Caulfield Cup because he was proven around that distance range. Another thing we’ve got to take into account is this is the closest he’s raced between two runs together, most of his races have been two months apart,” Lane said when asked about the step up in trip.

Full 2019 Melbourne Cup odds can be viewed here courtesy of Ladbrokes.com.au.

2019 Lexus Melbourne Cup Field 

# Form (Last 10) Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight
1 12x1x1x434 CROSS COUNTER (GB) Charlie Appleby William Buick 5 57.5kg
2 211x11x1x1 MER DE GLACE (JPN) Hisashi Shimizu Damian Lane 2 56kg
3 7250×14335 MASTER OF REALITY (IRE) Joseph O’Brien Frankie Dettori 1 55.5kg
4 2x0x1322x3 MIRAGE DANCER (GB) Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young Ben Melham 13 55.5kg
5 37×3264413 SOUTHERN FRANCE (IRE) Ciaron Maher & David Eustace Mark Zahra 14 55.5kg
6 3344465881 HUNTING HORN (IRE) Aidan O’Brien Seamie Heffernan 11 55kg
7 220×344216 LATROBE (IRE) Joseph O’Brien James McDonald 22 55kg
8 4x1x723516 MUSTAJEER (GB) Kris Lees Damien Oliver 6 55kg
9 251557×790 ROSTROPOVICH (IRE) David & B Hayes & T Dabernig Dwayne Dunn 12 55kg
10 423x2411x7 TWILIGHT PAYMENT (IRE) Joseph O’Brien Hugh Bowman 19 55kg
11 x1x34x5125 FINCHE (GB) Chris Waller Kerrin McEvoy 4 54kg
12 8x49x58321 PRINCE OF ARRAN (GB) Charlie Fellowes Michael Walker 8 54kg
13 1x6x237x4x RAYMOND TUSK (IRE) Richard Hannon Jamie Spencer 3 54kg
14 x196112x31 DOWNDRAFT (IRE) Joseph O’Brien John Allen 15 53.5kg
15 2×53220224 MAGIC WAND (IRE) Aidan O’Brien Ryan Moore 24 53.5kg
16 2x30x80709 NEUFBOSC (FR) David & B Hayes & T Dabernig Luke Nolen 23 53.5kg
17 00x048x070 SOUND (GER) Michael Moroney James Winks 10 53.5kg
18 1514132×41 SURPRISE BABY (NZ) Paul Preusker Jordan Childs 20 53.5kg
19 531×212224 CONSTANTINOPLE (IRE) David & B Hayes & T Dabernig Joao Moreira 7 52.5kg
20 322×17135 IL PARADISO (USA) Aidan O’Brien Wayne Lordan 17 52.5kg
21 x11111x467 STEEL PRINCE (IRE) Anthony Freedman Brett Prebble 16 52.5kg
22 0141×59195 THE CHOSEN ONE (NZ) Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman Tim Clark 18 52kg
23 1x36621x42 VOW AND DECLARE Danny O’Brien Craig Williams 21 52kg
24 x059x87873 YOUNGSTAR Chris Waller Tommy Berry 9 52kg

 

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