First of all, there’s Dandino, whose troublesome foreleg is a serious injury worry, and whose career might be in the balance as the owners and trainers sweat on the scans coming back. He’s a big loss to the race, of course, but there’s real concern about his chances for the Melbourne Cup, too, according to Darren Dance: ‘we don’t know if he has knocked himself or what he has done, but he certainly won’t be able to run on Saturday. I don’t know [if he will contest the Melbourne Cup], but experience tells me once you have an issue like this, you can’t fix it quickly.’ Worrying times for all of Dandino’s connections – and the same is true for everyone involved with Gris Caro, who was ruled out this week, as well. It’s a similar lameness issue for Gris Caro, and we’re just hoping that things come up right for the overseas import.

Elsewhere, there’s more potential drama brewing in the build-up to the Caulfield Cup, as stewards have scheduled veterinary checks for The Offer and for Bande for the morning. Hopefully those checks are just precautionary, and they won’t throw the Racing odds into further disarray – but it’s probably worth keeping an eye on things…

Taking the mantle from Gai Waterhouse’s The Offer, Protectionist now has odds of $7.00 beside his name. The Offer has slipped to $13.00, and between them you’ll find Japanese stayers Bande and Admire Rakti, and classy prospect Lucia Valentina. Protectionist finds himself on those short odds after a run in fourth last time out – but an eye-catching one under the top weight, and one that saw him come home just ahead of a quality horse in Van Percy. And, without wanting to employ a national stereotype too liberally, German import Protectionist has just been going about his business quietly and efficiently, suggesting that he’ll have a good preparation between now and Melbourne Cup day – one that will stand him in good stead to give a decent account of himself. If he can do that, then he’s a great prospect – one that trainer Andreas Wohler is rightly very pleased with: ‘he has travelled well, he is eating well and we have had no problems. If anything, he is too fresh and needs a race now. He will run a good race (at Caulfield) but the Melbourne Cup is our target.’

That run at Caulfield at the weekend will be closely scrutinised, you would have thought, and it could have an impact on the Racing odds you’re seeing at the end of the link there. Whatever happens, though, you can expect to see a tough horse like Protectionist take it in his stride…

Most observers would suggest that it’s more a question of when rather than if Waller sees silverware in one of those big races, but it looks like all four of his runners might have their work cut out in a tough Caulfield Cup field this weekend. The draw was pretty favourable to Waller’s prospects, mind you, and he will go to the race with high hopes, you’d think. Hawkspur and Moriarty will both find themselves in the middle of the field when the Caulfield Cup jumps off, and Waller can rightly be pleased with both their draws and their form coming into the race. Who Shot Thebarman has been hitting the headlines of late, and he’s a real prospect not just for the weekend, but looking ahead to the Melbourne Cup, as well, says Waller: ‘if he’s to win a Melbourne Cup, he’ll be wanting to run in the first three on Saturday, or be going close.’ And there’s potentially Waller’s best hope, Junoob, who’s fresh from a Metropolitan win, and looking to do Waller proud: ‘he’s a last-start Group 1 winner who is in form and who might be still improving. He was still a bit soft the other day, and he’s rock-hard fit now. It was a hard run the other day, but you can’t lie down in a race like the Caulfield Cup. It’s a tough 2400m, and you need a tough horse. The way The Metropolitan was run this year, it could be a good (form race). The race was run under pressure, and how many races are run under pressure? He also finished it off.’

So Waller will be hoping that 2014 is his year not just for the Caulfield Cup, but for a look at some other Grand Slams, too – and you can check up on where his runners are placed in those Racing odds by clicking the link!

Not that The Offer is out of the picture by any means. He’s a $12.00 bet on Sportsbet as of today, but there are three horses sitting on shorter odds, and all of them are real chances for The Race That Stops A Nation. Two of them are the Japanese raiders who have rightly been getting plenty of attention in the build-up to the 2014 Melbourne Cup, and the other is Protectionist, the current favourite with odds of $8.00 beside his name.

There’s plenty of time for things to shift again, of course, between now and November 4th, and we’ll be bringing you all the news stories that affect the odds. It looks like, for instance, My Ambivalent won’t be seen in action before the Melbourne Cup, and that could make it less likely that punters will back her in any numbers. It remains to be seen if there’s any long-term effects from the bruised foot that has put her out of the Caulfield Cup, and that will be reflected in her Racing odds, to, we’d have thought.

So check back regularly with us for more news and fresh odds – we’ll be keeping an eye out so you don’t need to!

Only classy prospect Lucia Valentina is at shorter odds than Bande for the 2014 Caulfield Cup, and both are proving to be very popular with punters, according to Sportsbet’s Shaun Anderson: ‘since the barrier draw punters have made a really strong move for Bande. His form in Japan is first class and by all reports he’s thrived since arriving in Australia.’ It’ll be very interesting indeed to see how Bande shapes up in the Caulfield Cup – seems to us that there will be lots of punters and pundits alike watching the Japanese stayer very closely indeed, with a view to seeing how his weekend run will affect the Racing odds for the Melbourne Cup. Obviously the Caulfield Cup is a huge race in its own right, but there will be punters looking ahead to The Race That Stops A Nation. We’ll mostly just be looking forward to a Caulfield Cup that could be a classic – there’s plenty of time to look ahead to the Melbourne Cup when you check back in with us!

According to Sportsbet, there has been some keen interest in the Gerald Ryan-trained 3-year-old: ‘there is a definite lead to suggest Bachman will go well in the Classic. The race is a traditional preview to the Derby and anything that performs strongly will no doubt firm for the Flemington Group 1.’ Which is part of the reason there will be so much attention on Bachman when he runs at the weekend, but doesn’t give us much to go on by way of a form guide. For that, you’d have to turn to Ryan himself, who sounds pretty pleased with Bachman’s progress through the Melbourne Spring so far, and keen to see just what this horse can do – he thinks there’s better form in Bachman than looks to be the case on paper: ‘I believe if he went back to the fence and followed Shooting To Win in the Stan Fox (1500m) then he’d have run second. The other day he was giving Hampton Court five kilos and his sectionals were as good as any horse on the day. At level weights in the Caulfield Classic he’ll be meeting some of those horses he’s been running against much better off at the weights and that will show us whether he’ll get 2500m (of the AAMI Victoria Derby) or not.’

So keep an eye out for Bachman at the weekend – this is a great chance for him to prove his trainer right, and also to position himself very well indeed in the Racing odds for the VRC Derby at the start of November…

The favourite going into the race looks like it will be classy, in-form mare Lucia Valentina, and she’s a real chance to win it, so those odds of $4.40 on Sportsbet today feel about right. Punters have spotted value in another leading lady, though: Dear Demi, like Lucia Valentina, is a Group 1 winner, and at odds of $19.00 looks like great value. And we’re not the only ones who think so, according to Sportsbet’s Shaun Anderson: ‘the two Group 1 winning mares have been very well backed. The in-form Lucia Valentina is very popular, but it appears punters are looking for value as Dear Demi is the best backed runner.’

Don’t expect the girls to have it all their own way, though, in the 2014 Caulfield Cup – Dandino and Stipulate are both proving popular with punters in the build-up to the race, and you can expect either or both to have a say in the race. We’ll be watching on Saturday, and we’ll be checking back with those Racing odds in the meantime…

Three of Waller’s horses have seen changes in their handicapping for the big races coming up in the Melbourne Spring after they found success last weekend. Looking ahead to the Caulfield Cup and the Melbourne Cup, it could be that Waller has some serious prospects on his hands. The first of them is Who Shot Thebarman, who announced himself to pundits and punters alike with a strong win in the Bart Cummings Stakes, and he’s in amongst the horses with the smallest numbers besides their names in the Racing odds right now on Sportsbet. Elsewhere, He’s Your Man saw his weights go up for both the Caulfield Cup and the Melbourne Cup, but Waller has been saying for a while that he’s more likely to run the Cox Plate than either of those two – still, the win in the Epsom Handicap and the subsequent attention from the handicapper can’t have hurt his chances much at all!

And finally, keep an eye out for Junoob, who took the Metropolitan at Randwick in impressive style, and who is just a decent run away from the Melbourne Cup. Watch this space for more…

But who is this Japanese raider who’s drawing so much media attention in the 2014 Melbourne Spring? Bande comes into the Spring campaign in the shadow of Admire Rakti a little bit: there’s a feeling that he’s a work in progress, and not quite as close to the finished article as Admire Rakti is, but then Admire Rakti will be carrying the top weight in the Melbourne Cup, where Bande’s load might be that bit more manageable. They’ll look to run the race in different styles, too, with Bande wanting a pace set right from the start while Admire Rakti will look to sit off the back and finish strongly. They could be a great pair of inclusions for punters, not just because they could easily be the start of an influx of exciting Japanese prospects making their way to Australia, but also because these two could be the catalysts for a very exciting Melbourne Cup indeed!

So check out the Racing odds for Bande for both the Melbourne Cup and the Caulfield Cup in 2014. He’s a horse who comes with well-managed expectations, but if he has a couple of really strong runs in 2014, then he’ll be a huge chance in the future…

The 2014 edition of The Race That Stops A Nation will be Red Cadeaux’s fourth attempt to land a win in the race, and after having run second on two separate occasions, it’s fair to say he’s got what it takes to get close: but can he get across the line as an 8-year-old? Obviously that elusive Melbourne Cup triumph will be at the front of his team’s minds, but there’s the possibility of a Caulfield Cup run, too, for punters to consider. For the meantime, though, all the focus is going to be on making sure Red Cadeaux is settled in and in top shape for his Melbourne Spring races. Robin Trevor Jones has been overseeing his transport: ‘he’s in stupid good form, fingers crossed everything goes well in the next few days. Mr Arculli (the owner) is brilliant. He lets the horse have a full stall on the plane and I’m able to let him down as if he’s in his own box at home. He’s eaten and he’s drunk and I can’t see any problems.’

Settling in to his temporary digs in Australia is the first hurdle for Red Cadeaux in 2014, and there could be another for him on Caulfield Cup day, but the focus of his Spring campaign is always going to be the Melbourne Cup, and he’s going to be a fixture of the Racing odds for the race between now and the start of November. Can he get across the line this time?