FLIGHT OF FANCY
THERE’S a growing northsouth divide in Queensland when it comes to politics but it appears the Sunshine State is united on one front – Marmelo will win the Melbourne Cup today.
From Coolangatta in the south to Cairns in the far north, bookmaker UBET reports the statewide trend has been to back the English stayer, who has attracted almost 10 per cent of bets on the race that stops the nation.
Marmelo opened at
$11 after the Melbourne Cup barrier draw on Saturday night and a torrent of bets had trimmed the Hughie Morrison-trained horse’s price to $8 outright favourite with UBET last night.
MARMELO is the horse Queenslanders want to back to win today’s Melbourne Cup.
Bookmaker UBET last night reported the statewide trend had been to back the Hughie Morrison-trained English horse, which has attracted almost 10 per cent of bets on the race that stops the nation.
After Marmelo opened at $11 following Saturday night’s barrier draw, the five-year-old has been subject to a torrent of wagers and had trimmed to $8 outright favourite last night.
Last year’s winner Almanthe din ($9) is the second most popular pick for Queenslanders, while international raider Red Cardinal, at the juicy odds of $18, is the third best-supported runner by number of bets.
UBET spokesman Nick Curry said with the final field now confirmed – and narrowed to 23 following the scratching of Who Shot Thebarman – punters were putting their faith in Marmelo to claim victory come 2pm (Qld time).
“Many punters use the Caulfield Cup as a guide when picking their Melbourne Cup runner and it seems Marmelo’s sixth two weeks ago was enough to convince punters in sunshine state he’s the one to beat,” Curry said.
“Having Winx’s regular jockey Hugh Bowman on board is also likely to be a big factor with many punters opting to follow high-profile jockeys into the Cup.”
Before his eye-catching sixth in the Caulfield Cup, Marmelo won the Prix Kergorlay (3000m) at Deauville in France.
Two winners of that testing race, Americain (2010) and Protectionist (2014), have gone on to win the Melbourne Cup.
Readers of the Bulletin can get the rails run with the UBET Sweep Page on page 28. It features individual barcodes that can be used to quickly and easily place a bet in your local UBET outlet.
Punters simply have to scan the individual barcode on their chosen runner, which they can cut out or take a photo of on their phone, at the counter or a self-service machine.
This will trigger a $10 each way wager ($20 total).
UBET agencies will be open from 7.30am (Qld time) today.